NCJ Number
127070
Date Published
1990
Length
19 pages
Annotation
In the spring of 1990, a survey of the 50 State correctional systems and the Federal Bureau of Prisons was conducted to determine how much each was spending on health services for prisoners.
Abstract
Total Department of Corrections (DOC) expenditures for the 47 jurisdictions reporting ranged from a low of $12 million in Maine to a high of almost $1.6 billion in California with the mean DOC expenditure totaling almost $258 million. The percentage of the total DOC's expenditures devoted to health ranged from a low of 2.8 percent in South Dakota to a high of 18.9 percent in Texas. The man percentage expended on health was 9.5 percent whereas the median was 8 percent. Alabama showed the most substantial decrease in expenditures between 1982 and 1989 (almost 25 percent less expended per inmate for health care in 1989). In 27 states, the per inmate annual health cost increased over time and in virtually all cases, at a rate well above the rate of inflation. For most of the states, it is fair to assume that the increase in expenditures reflects some increase in services, but the amount is unknown. 6 notes, 3 references, and appendix