Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Inmates’ health care may not be free

CARSON CITY -- State prison inmates can be charged for medical care but certain guidelines should be followed, the attorney general's office says.

In a legal opinion sent Wednesday to Prison Medical Director Michael Fitting, Senior Deputy Attorney General Anne Cathcart said inmates can be charged for regular medical care and mental-health treatment.

But Cathcart said no inmate should be denied medical care if he or she doesn't have money in a prison account.

The prison since 1981 has had the authority to impose the co-payment. The 1995 Legislature expanded the areas where the charge could be levied. The co-payment fee has been $4 for a visit. That amounts to about $600,000 a year in revenue for the prison system.

Cathcart said the prison should continue its policy of allowing inmates to keep a reasonable percentage of the money in their accounts before taking out any payments for medical treatment. And the prison should continue its policy of providing basic hygiene items without charge to convicts.

The co-payment plan is aimed at discouraging abuse of medical care, defraying the cost to taxpayers and freeing up medical staff to treat those with legitimate illnesses or injuries.

The prison, Cathcart said, should make sure the inmates know about these charges and that a system is established to allow an inmate to challenge the accuracy of any charge.

Nevada, she said, was one of the first states to enact legislation requiring inmates to contribute to medical care costs. And the courts have upheld these plans.

"The Supreme Court concluded that as long as the inmate was not denied necessary medical care, state law determined who would pay the cost," she said.

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