In Nevada, incarcerated individuals who sought medical care incurred an average debt of over $4,500 per person.
Early intervention is essential for improving health outcomes, but medical fees often prevent individuals from seeking timely treatment, leading to more severe health emergencies. This issue is especially problematic for people entering prisons and jails, as they frequently lacked access to healthcare before incarceration and may already suffer from chronic illnesses or disabilities. This report explores carceral medical debt, detailing the healthcare challenges faced by incarcerated individuals, the fees imposed on them, and how these charges create medical debt that harms health outcomes. It also examines how this debt affects families and the reentry process, as well as the role of private equity and for-profit contractors in exacerbating the problem. Additionally, the report offers a thorough analysis of common sources of medical debt and the methods used for its collection. The report concludes with a set of consumer-focused policy recommendations intended to address medical debt associated with incarceration.
You can read the full text here.
Key Findings:
- Medical copays in jails and prisons began in the 1990s, expanding to federal prisons in the 2000s.
- MeCarceral medical debt arises from various sources, including copays, commissary fees for over-the-counter medications and hygiene products, medical release bonds, third-party medical provider debts, and post-release medical expenses.
- Medicare generally does not cover a person’s healthcare while they are incarcerated.
- One county jail in Iowa spent almost $370k in medical services but recovered less than $3,000 from medical copays—they assessed $7,400 in copays.
- Private corporations make about $80 billion annually from contracts with prison and jail systems.
- To avoid covering medical costs, jails in at least 25 states may release individuals temporarily for medical care, and then reincarcerate them afterward.
Recommendations:
- Eliminate Medical Fees in prisons and jails.
- End the collection of carceral medical debt.
- Eliminate private equity and for-profit healthcare contractors in prisons and jails.
- Increase access to Medicaid and Medicare in prisons and jails.