NCJ Number
220682
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 32 Issue: 5 Dated: September/October 2007 Pages: 9-31
Editor(s)
Susan L. Clayton M.S.
Date Published
September 2007
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of a 2006 survey of inmate health care and communicable diseases in correctional facilities with representation from all 50 States of the United States and Canada.
Abstract
Highlights from the survey include: (1) 42 United States correctional systems report spending $3.6 trillion to maintain the health needs of inmates; (2) 39 United States correctional systems report budget increases from the previous year with more than half stating population growth as the reason for the increase; (3) 39 reporting systems house an average elderly population of 7 percent of their total population; (4) 21 correctional systems in the United States report 1 percent or less are terminally ill inmate cases; (5) 30 of the reporting systems test for HIV/AIDS automatically at intake; (6) the percentage of the total inmate population infected with hepatitis C ranges from a high of 28 percent in Colorado and about 27 percent in Rhode Island to a low of less than 1 percent in Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, and South Dakota; (7) 100 percent of the reporting systems test for tuberculosis and other symptoms at intake; (8) the process of charging inmates for most medical visits, ranging from as high as $8 (Nevada) to as low as $2 (Maryland), brought approximately $5.8 million to those systems; and (9) 30 systems report using telemedicine in some instances. This report presents summary findings from a 2006 survey of all 50 States in the United States and Canada (Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario) on inmate health and communicable diseases, specifically budget and staffing, services and funding, specialized services (elderly, females, chronically ill, and terminally ill), HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, tuberculosis and other symptoms, and medical co-pay plans or release provisions or telemedicine. Tables