Sick, injured inmates drive up medical costs
By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published June 16, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated June 16, 2008 at 2:25 p.m.
The medical care required by inmates booked into Denver's jails in 2007 may cost taxpayers nearly $1.3 million extra.
The City Council will consider a supplemental request tonight from Denver Health to cover the additional costs of treating sick or injured inmates last year.
The hospital budgeted about $5.6 million for inmate medical care, but the actual costs were $6.9 million, a 23 percent jump.
"We had a significant increase in the number of inmates in the custody of the city who were either in a serious medical trauma - like gunshot wound or stabbing - or had a serious condition, such as an infectious disease that required long-term antibiotics and needed to be in the hospital," Peg Burnette, Denver Health's chief financial officer, said Friday.
The number of inmates with serious or complex injuries or conditions, identified as "trauma" or "catastrophic" patients, increased from 23 in 2006 to 39 last year.
A majority of those patients "were brought directly to Denver Health's emergency room by the police or via ambulance," according to city documents.
The number of inmates requiring hospitalization grew, too.
In 2007, 509 inmates were hospitalized compared with 438 the previous year, a 16 percent increase.
The number of days that inmates were hospitalized also grew, from 1,799 days to 2,336.
Inmates have a constitutional right to health care, Denver Health officials say.
"When patients are in the custody of the state or the city, their rights are protected, including the right to be given what they need for their safety and welfare," said Bobbi Barrow, a Denver Health spokeswoman.
Burnette said Denver Health will make every effort to bill insurance companies or the inmates.
"In fact, we collected $221,000 from inmates' insurance and/or inmates themselves in 2007," Burnette said. "If we had not collected that, our supplemental would be asking for $1.4 million."
Denver Health is a hospital authority that also cares for Denver's indigent and offers other health-related services in the city.
chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5099
Patient numbers
* Number of inmates hospitalized
2003 306
2004 355
2005 363
2006 438
2007 509
* Number of days inmates were hospitalized
2003 1,292
2004 1,966
2005 2,365
2006 1,799
2007 2,336
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June 16, 2008
2:45 p.m.
Suggest removal
freedomfighter1 writes:
These people could and most would have seen a doctor anyway, the choice to go or not should be left with them. There ability to pay didn't depend on wether or not they were arrested, many are billed by the hospital later (even though a lot do not pay). Possible sollution: if you recieve medical care on the way to jail..you are responsible for it, if you are in jail and have natural or other chronic condition and you need to see a doctor...you are responsible for the cost, however, if you recieve injuries or illness while in jail, and the condition was a direct result of being jailed...the county/state is responsible.
June 16, 2008
3:28 p.m.
Suggest removal
Cowboy63 writes:
"Burnette said Denver Health will make every effort to bill insurance companies or the inmates."
???
LOL! Good luck with that!
Responsible people with health insurance are usually too busy working to pay their bills and not bleeding in the back of a squad car.
June 16, 2008
4:42 p.m.
Suggest removal
Scott writes:
Let's see. These convicts are wards of the government. The government is providing their medical needs. The cost is outrageous. Yup, looks like socialist "health care" is the way to go ... NOT!
Scott