Calif. Lawmakers express frustration over excessive outlays for prison health

[n2doc]

Inmate medical care is budgeted at $1.5 billion for this year. A federal overseer recommends early release of chronically ill inmates as a way to cut costs.

By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
January 27, 2011


Reporting from Sacramento — Amid California's budget crisis, the receiver put in charge of the prison health system by a federal judge has spent $82 million on blueprints for medical facilities that have been largely scrapped, more than $50,000 a month on an architectural consultant and millions hiring medical professionals — more per inmate than in many other states.

After four years of pouring money into the system, however, receiver J. Clark Kelso told legislators Wednesday that he didn't know when the federal oversight might stop and suggested early release of chronically sick inmates as one quick way to cut costs.

Exasperated lawmakers, who have to pay the bills but have little say in how the funds are spent, questioned whether federal control is making prison healthcare any better.

"That's a source of great frustration," said Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento), chairman of the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review, who called on Kelso to account for the spending, which is budgeted at about $1.5 billion for this year. "As we watch the numbers go up, we can't tell if we're any closer to hitting the mark."

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-prisons-20110127,0,2548791.story

[MattBaggins]

1. Won't releasing them just shift costs?

They will go on medicaid so will that be significantly less expensive or do they hoping to just drop them on the streets and let them die?

[n2doc]

2. Probably the latter n/t