From National Consumer Law Center:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The population of individuals incarcerated in jails and prisons across the United States is getting sicker and older. In 2021, the Department of Justice found that 40% of incarcerated people in state prisons and 33% of incarcerated people in federal prisons reported having a chronic health condition.1
Unsurprisingly, the cost of caring for incarcerated individuals is
increasing. While medical debt is a burden that too many Americans are familiar with, the acute impact of this continuing crisis on incarcerated people is less well known.
At first glance, carceral medical fees may seem modest compared to the costs people pay for healthcare outside of prison or jail–some prison copays may be as little as a few dollars per visit. However, in practice, these fees make it nearly impossible for the majority of incarcerated people to afford medical assistance without accumulating debt.2
Incarcerated people are more than twice as likely to suffer from chronic health issues and disabilities than the general population.3 And unlike the general population, people who are incarcerated are forced to be entirely dependent on the prison or jail system to care for them. Incarcerated people are disproportionately low-income4 and, if they are paid at all for their work, make abysmal wages (often “pennies per hour”5). As a result, many people who are
incarcerated do not have the income to pay even the most modest medical fee without significant help from their already-burdened and often low-income families. For those with chronic conditions and disabilities who are unable to work and earn any income while incarcerated and those without outside financial support, these fees can turn a prison sentence into a death sentence. Continue reading the report here.
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