PRISON HEALTH COSTS MUST BE RESTRAINED

State Spending On Inmates Is Among Highest In Nation

Only four states across the nation spend a higher percentage of their
prison budgets on health care than California.

Considering that 7 million law-abiding Californians have no health care
insurance at all, the state should be taking every step possible to reduce
its annual $1 billion prison health care expenditures.

A complex set of circumstances has contributed to soaring health care costs
at the state's 32 prisons. That includes a growing elderly inmate
population, increased reliance on outside contracting and soaring
prescription drug costs, which have doubled to more than $200 million over
the past five years. The remote location of many prisons presents
corrections officials with additional challenges.

It's time for the state to consider:

* Seeking more competitive bids for medical services for inmates. The state
currently exempts most prison contracts from competitive bidding. States
with the lowest health care costs for inmates have competitive bidding.

* Building long-term care facilities for elderly inmates, including
hospices and nursing homes.

* Increasing preventive health care, averting high-cost emergency treatment
down the road.

* Purchasing prescription drugs for inmates in bulk.

* Introducing telemedicine -- videoconferencing patient-doctor visits --
wherever possible to reduce high transportation costs.

When it comes to taxpayer expenses for the prison health care costs, which
have increased 71 percent since 1998, the state needs to be more proactive
in treating what's ailing the system.

INMATE HEALTH CARE SPENDING: HOW STATES COMPARE

States spent on average 10 percent of their corrections budget in 2001 on
health care for inmates. Here are the states that spent the highest
percentage of their corrections budget on health care for inmates and the
lowest:

HIGHEST

Nevada -- 17 percent

North Carolina -- 17 percent

Arkansas -- 14 percent

Florida -- 14 percent

California -- 13 percent

Connecticut -- 13 percent

Michigan -- 13 percent

New Mexico -- 13 percent

Texas -- 13 percent

West Virginia -- 13 percent

LOWEST

Indiana -- 1 percent

Massachusetts -- 5 percent

Illinois -- 5 percent

Wisconsin -- 5 percent

Delaware -- 6 percent

Idaho -- 6 percent

Nebraska -- 6 percent

Hawaii -- 7 percent

New York -- 7 percent

North Dakota -- 7 percent

SOURCE: COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS