In a recent strike of infectious disease exposure and a Hepatitis C invasion, about 600 inmates at Kansas have been tested positive. However, the corrections officials have been focusing over treating the cases that are at the highly advanced stage and need immediate attention. This is because the officials do not have enough money for treating everyone.
Roger Werholtz, the Corrections Interim Secretary mentioned that the prison’s correction department wants to make sure that all the inmates affected by hepatitis C receive immediate treatment prior to their release. He added that the officials do not want the affected inmates to carry the disease beyond the perimeter of the prison facility.
However, the high treatment cost along with budget constraints have been affecting the way treatment is being dispatched to the prisoners. A course lasting 12 weeks can cost around $15,000 for each inmate. This is why, the state aims to focus on cases that are serious before taking care of others. As per estimation, a total of 43 inmates have been listed for treatment being high priority patients. Now, the overall payout for treating a total of 591 inmates serving sentence in the prison would boil down to an overall expenditure of $9 million.
This number is troublesome given the fact that state contract established with the Corizon Correctional Healthcare keeps aside just $15 million each year for the treatment of inmates.
