Menard Correctional Center
State Rep. Emily McAsey, a Democrat from Lockport, thought she had a good idea.
And what does a relatively new legislator do with a new idea…especially if you are a lawyer, as McAsey is?
You have it drafted into a bill.
McAsey’s bill would increase the inmate co-pay for non-emergency medical visits from $2 go $5 a visit.
$336,000 extra money coming in from prisoners is the claim.
Second-term State Rep. Emily McAsey
But wait.
Might not the higher co-pay have a significant affect on utilization?
When a co-pay of $2 was imposed, how much less medical service was rendered?
If significant, did the costs for the outside medical providers decrease proportionately?
$2 represented 20% or a prisoner’s monthly income, one inmate has let me know.
It seems conceivable that more than doubling the co-pay will cut utilization even more.
So, the higher co-pay might lead to the delivery of significantly lower amounts of medical care.
If so, shouldn’t the outside vendor be paid significantly less?
What a stupid idea!
How do prisoners at Menard (and other penitentiaries) earn money for their co-pays?
Of course, utilization will decline.
Sicknesses and illnesses will increase for lack of treatment. Guess who pays then?
An inmate at the McHenry County Jail told me he gets soaked $10 for an aspirin.
How many McHenry County people know that?
And, if a relative wants to put $20 in the inmate’s commissary account so that he can buy two aspirins, that relative gets stung $5.95 (or $6.95?) for the EFT.
That’s how our Sheriff’s Department “takes care” of inmates. Is a Jail really supposed to be a “profit center” for the County?
Is a Jail a profit center? Yes.
There is also the argument that people might think twice about going for non urgent issues. There is nothing you can do for a virus except letting it run its course. If you have to pay $5 ( which by the way is less than many non-inmates pay for their co-pay) you may think twice about going for a headache…… just a thought.
It is driving a behavior.