Prison health care spending in 44 states totaled $6.5 billion in 2008, out of $36.8 billion in overall institutional correctional expenditures, according to a report from The State Health Care Spending Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the MacArthur Foundation. The report shows that states’ correctional health care spending increased substantially from fiscal 2001 to 2008, largely due to the rise in prison populations, aging inmate populations, and challenges inherent in delivering health care in prisons. The report illustrates a variety of promising approaches that states are taking to address this issue, including the use of telehealth technology and medical or geriatric parole.
