Inmates Will Get Care for Hepatitis
New Jersey: Inmates Will Get Care for Hepatitis
Philadelphia Inquirer
10.31.02; Mark Fazlollah; Jennifer Lin
New Jersey, the only major state not currently treating prisoners for hepatitis
C, announced Wednesday that it would cover the cost of treating the disease.
Under a new agreement with prison medical provider Correctional Medical
Services, the state will assume the costs of the expensive treatment beginning
Nov. 1, according to state Treasury Department spokesperson Ralph Siegel.
"The state will pay for medicine, test costs and any necessity for additional
staff," Siegel said in announcing the agreement, which extends the CMS contract
with the state until Aug. 31, 2003. The money for hepatitis C treatment will be
in addition to the millions of dollars the state pays CMS. It was unclear,
Siegel said, how much extra money the state would need to spend. Other state
corrections departments are finding it can cost $15,000 to $25,000 per hepatitis
C-infected inmate to cover testing, monitoring and treatment. The drugs cure
about half of treated patients, with viral levels dropping to undetectable
levels and remaining there.
New Jersey's current contract with CMS expires today, and the state had received
no bids it considered acceptable for a new contract. CMS had asked for an
increase that would have raised the cost of prison health care by 30 percent to
more than $100 million annually, but it said the state would have to pay extra
for hepatitis C care. The state rejected that proposal, arguing that hepatitis C
care should have always been covered under the contract. Under the 10-month
extension, Siegel said, CMS will receive a 14.7 percent increase.
Like other states, New Jersey is facing epidemic levels of hepatitis C infection
among inmates. Nationally, 20-30 percent of prisoners are infected with the
blood-borne virus. In Georgia, the annual budget for hepatitis C treatment could
eventually approach $5 million, said Joseph Paris, the state's prison medical
director.
"We need federal assistance," said Reginald Wilkinson, director of the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. "This is not just a prison
problem."
http://www.thebody.com/cdc/news_updates_archive/oct31_02/nj_inmates_hepatitis.ht\
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