Recently in Corrections.Health Category

Source: Aaron Edwards, Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), April 19, 2012

...Significant changes have been made to the state's inmate medical care program since it was placed under Receivership in 2006. In determining how to transition the responsibility for managing the program back to state control, the state should focus on two keys to long-term success: (1) creating independent oversight of the program, and (2) controlling inmate medical costs. Based on our review of experiences in other states, we therefore recommend that the state create an independent board to provide oversight and evaluation of the inmate medical care program, take steps to address current operational efficiencies to bring state expenditures to a more sustainable level, and establish a pilot project to contract for medical care services. ...
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Source: Travis Pillow, Current, April 5, 2012

The Florida Department of Corrections has chosen two companies that are first in line to take over the state's inmate health care system, which costs more than $400 million annually.

The department this week gave initial approval to the two lowest-cost proposals: a $230 million per year plan by Corizon that would cover prisons in the northern and central parts of the state, and a plan worth more than $48 million a year by Wexford Health Sources for prisons in South Florida.

The Legislative Budget Commission still needs to approve the decisions before they become official, but the department found that both plans would exceed the 7 percent annual cost savings sought by the Legislature.

According to a business case prepared by the department, the plans would cost a combined $359 million once drugs and other expenses are included, a savings of more than 11 percent from what it expects to spend this year, and more than 13 percent savings from the 2009-10 fiscal year, which is the benchmark set by the Legislature.

Source: Bob Ortega, Arizona Republic News, April 03, 2012

Arizona's Department of Corrections awarded a $349 million, three-year contract Tuesday to privatize health care for prison inmates that will cost the state $5 million a year more than it spent in 2011. The contract to privatize prison health care -- originally pushed by Rep. John Kavanagh as a way to save the state money -- was awarded to privately held Wexford Health Sources Inc. of Pittsburgh. Wexford, which has previously lost contracts for poor service and was implicated in a 2008 payoff scandal in Illinois, bid $116.3million a year, $1.1million less than the second-place bid by Corizon Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn.

Source: Morning Call, March 10, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department Of Corrections is soliciting bids to privatize the agency's corps of prison nurses, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel told a state House panel last week. The agency won't make a decision on the nurses until at least this summer, and right now it's soliciting the bids mostly for the purposes of comparison, Wetzel said in an interview after his annual budget pitch. .... The Corrections Department already has contractors performing all medical services except nursing and medical records.

Source: Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), SEIU, the UAW, AFSCME, and MSEA, February 15, 2012

From the press release:
Legislators' Rush to Privatize Prisons Will Benefit Corporation, Not Michigan Taxpayers. A new Report recommends caution due to lack of cost savings, contractor's troubled record. Legislators should investigate the failed promises of prison privatization in Michigan and other states before rushing to pass proposals under consideration, state corrections officers familiar with the issues said today in releasing comprehensive research about risks to taxpayers and dangers to residents.

Source: Karen Bouffard, Detroit News, February 8, 2012

A law requiring contractors to pay prisoners minimum wage is holding up a privatization push meant to shave up to $93 million from the state Corrections budget this year, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Requests for proposals to privatize roughly $400 million in prison services were put on hold in January after a review by Attorney General Bill Schuette's office revealed private contractors using prisoners for kitchen, janitorial and other duties would have to pay Michigan's $7.40 an hour minimum wage -- 10 times what unskilled prisoner employees are paid by the state....

...According to Marlan, the state hoped to save: $11 million on prisoner health services and $3.1 million on mental health services...$7 million annually by privatizing food services...

Source: A.J. Higgins, Maine Public Broadcasting Network, January 6, 2012

The president of the Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said a state agency review of a company that provides medical services to Maine prison inmates documented problems that rise to "a systemic constitutional dimension."...Last year's review of the state's contract with Corizon produced some of the most dramatic findings ever identified by the agency. The company that oversees the delivery of medical services at most Maine prison facilities was found to have failed to adequately fulfill many of its contractual obligations. The report concluded that 50% of Corizon's medication records were in error and that records could not even be found for nearly 10% of the prisoners treated. Staff training was insufficient according to the OPEGA report which said many of the prisoners never received their annual physical exams. Now, after an eight-year relationship with the state, Corizon's $12 million annual contract may be in jeopardy and for the first time, the company will have to compete with other firms for the state's business.
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Health Care Services in State Correctional Facilities - Weaknesses Exist in MDOC's Monitoring of Contractor Compliance and Performance; New Administration is Undertaking Systemic Changes
Source: Office of Program Evaluation & Government Accountability
of the Maine State Legislature, Final Report, Report No. SR-MEDSERV-09, November 2011

Source: Steve Bousquet, Herald/Times, January 19, 2012

Determined to cut the size of the $2 billion prison budget, legislators and Gov. Rick Scott are focused on consolidation and privatization. But as the potential disruption to state employees becomes clear, prison advocates and some lawmakers are scrambling to put the brakes on plans they say could devastate small towns that are highly dependent on prison jobs. Some of the biggest changes in the agency's history are moving ahead all at once. They include closing seven prisons due to a surplus of vacant prison beds; outsourcing 32 prisons and work camps in South Florida to private vendors; and the privatization of health care for all 100,000 inmates statewide. No part of state government is facing as much change as the Department of Corrections, and opposition is mounting.
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Lawmaker: Inmates moved before privatization
Source: James L. Rosica, Associated Press, January 19, 2012
Updated:
- Fla. prison privatization plan clears House panel
Source: Associated Press, January 24, 2012
- State private prison plan facing fire from several fronts
Source: Steve Bousquet, Tampa Bay Times, January 26, 2012
- Editorial: Senate disregards perils of privatization
Source: Tampa Bay Times, January 26, 2012
- Privatizing state's prisons opens door to strikes
Source: Michael Moakley, Florida Today, January 25, 2012
- Teamsters want full analysis of privatization proposal
Kathleen Haughney, Sun Sentinel, January 25, 2012
- Capitol notes: Privatization push raises a stink
Source: Matt Dixon, Florida Times-Union, January 29, 2012
- Nurses sue to prevent privatization of prison health
Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee.com, January 27, 2012
(subscription required)
- Prison Privatization Faces a Second Round in Florida
Source: National Institute on Money in State Politics, Money Tale blog, January 30, 2012
- Short on support, Senate leader holds off on prison privatizing vote
Source: Dara Kam, Palm Beach Post, Updated: February 1, 2012
- Florida Prisons Bill Would Expand Private Management, Netting A Big Win For Political Contributors
Source: Chris Kirkham, huffingtonpost.com, February 2, 2012
- Prison privatization in trouble
Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee.com, February 2, 2012
(subscription required)
- Corrections workers express fear as prison privatization vote nears
Source: Ashley Lopez, Florida Independent, February 1, 2012
- Sen. Evers declares privatization voting conflict
Source: Steve Bousquet, Miami Herald blog, Feb 1, 2012
- Senator booted off budget panel over privatization
Source: James L. Rosica and Gary Fineout, Associated Press, February 1, 2012
- Savings tough to calculate in Florida prison privatization plan
Source: Steve Bousquet, Tampa Bay /Times, February 7, 2012
- Florida prison privatization stalls in legislature
Source: Michael Peltier, Reuters, Feb 7, 2012
- Prisons Chaplains Call for Privatization
Source: Whitney Ray, Capitol News Service, February 8th, 2012
- Florida NAACP coming out against prison privatization
Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee.com, February 13, 2012
(subscription required)
- Senate Takes Up Prison Privatization
Source: NorthEscambia.com, February 13, 2012
- Florida spending too much for too little on prisons
Source: Brad Swanson, vice president of corporate and strategic partnerships for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Tampa Bay Times, Monday, February 13, 2012
- Dockery says DOC records show private prisons aren't cheaper
Source: Aaron Deslatte, Orlando Sentinel, February, 13 2012
- Prisons bill fails 21-19 / State employees applaud death of privatization move after drawn-out debate
Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee.com, February 15, 2012
(subscription required)
Unions sue over plan to privatize prison health care system
Source: Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald, February 16, 2012
Sen. Greg Evers says why he voted no to prison privatization
Source:: Deborah Buckhalter, Jackson County Floridan, February 15, 2012

Source: Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, December 30, 2011

In what would be a massive departure in caring for ill prisoners, the N.C. Department of Correction in the fall put out a request to vendors to outsource all aspects of prison inmate health care.

It's a massive deal. The contract could total more than $1.5 billion over seven years for the delivery of health care services to some 40,000 inmates. For now, a network of 2,000 state employees, nurses and doctors as well as contracts with hospitals and outside physicians, provide that statutorily required care.

Source: Bob Ortega, Arizona Republic, December 5, 2011

To stave off a lawsuit, Arizona's Department of Corrections has agreed to investigate scores of complaints by inmates that they are routinely denied medical care for weeks or months even for severe, life-threatening conditions. Inmates who have lost sight, had body parts amputated or been severely disfigured, among other gruesome examples, say proper medical care could have prevented needless suffering....

...In mid-2009, the Republican-led Arizona Legislature passed laws requiring Corrections to privatize prison medical care and to pay providers at a rate no higher than that paid by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicare provider.

According to Corrections officials, within months of that law's passage, there were negative repercussions:

Health-care employees, figuring their jobs were on the chopping block, started leaving in droves. Corrections spent $5.3 million less on full-time health-care staff salaries this past fiscal year than two years earlier, a 13.5 percent drop. The department has used temporary, part-time workers to partially close that gap. And many contract providers such as Carondelet Health Network stopped doing business with Corrections, saying the reimbursement rates were too low. Ryan said the department eventually found other providers.
Updated:
Suit Attacks Quality of Health Care in AZ Prisons
Source: Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press, March 6, 2012