CHARGING PRISON INMATES FOR HEALTH SERVICES
This research examines the public policy alternative of charging prison inmates a user fee for health services delivered by the state to a prisoner. Several states in the U.S. operate systems where convicted persons are required to pay a part of the costs associated with the administration of their corrections programs (Allen, Eskridge, Latessa, and Vito, 1990, pp. 74-91). Most of such fees are related to parole and probation; however, such actions provide a precedent for the imposition of user fees for health services. The establishment of user fees is a popular idea among the general public and politicians.
The Arizona legislation permits the state Bureau of Corrections to charge a prisoner $3.00 for each Health Needs Request. Health needs associated with catastrophic and chronic diseases and conditions (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and so forth) are not subject to the imposition of a user fee. Similarly, health needs of female prisoners associated with pregnancy, health needs of prisoners of either gender involving serious mental illness, and the health needs of all juvenile prisoners are not subject to the imposition of a user fee.
Precedent for Health Services User Fees
Several states in the United States operate systems wherein convicted persons are required to pay a part of the costs associated with the administration of their corrections programs (Allen, Eskridge, Latessa, and Vito, 1990, pp. 74-91). Most such fees are related to parole and probation; however, such actions provide a precedent for the imposition of user fees for health services. User fees are popular with both the general public and politicians.
In the United States, programs to charge convicted persons for a part of the cost of administering their corrections programs were initiated by Michigan in the 1930s, and by Colorado in the 1940s (Ring, 1989, pp. 43-48). The con...