STATE SHOULD COVER INMATES' MEDICAL BILLS

Again this year as they have for at least the past decade, Missouri counties will make their pitch to the Missouri Legislature about getting the state to pick up the costs of medical treatment for prisoners housed in county jails.

Cape Girardeau County's cost of providing medical care for its prisoners has been high. Last year alone the county spent over $62,000 to keep prisoners healthy, and that didn't include any catastrophic medical costs which have been incurred in previous years and could be again at any time.

That is a lot of money coming out of county general revenue to provide medical care for prisoners, many who are in jail on state charges to begin with.

The county holds hundreds of state prisoners over the course of each year. The state pays a daily fee for housing those prisoners, pays the costs of extraditing them from other states and pays for their food and transportation and the costs of trials. But the state doesn't pay for medical care.

When Cape Girardeau County boards its prisoners in another county's jail, it likewise pays all costs, including medical care. Cape Girardeau County also boards prisoners from other counties for a daily fee, and those counties pay for all of their prisoners' costs, including medical attention.

Cape Girardeau County Jail holds federal prisoners on occasion, and the federal government picks up all of the costs of its prisoners, including medical treatment.

The county has taken steps to bring medical costs in check, says Sheriff John Jordan. Three years ago the sheriff's department began requiring prisoners to pay a $10 co-payment for medical treatment, and that money is deducted from prisoners' commissary money, which is important to them. The practice has even reduced the number of prisoners' unnecessary visits to doctors' offices.

If a prisoner has no money, the county keeps track of medical visits in case that prisoner returns to jail at a later date. The county then tries to collect the debt.

It makes no sense that the state should be exempt from picking up costs of medical care when all other jurisdictions are paying for all of their prisoners' costs.

Counties around the state and county taxpayers shouldn't be responsible for the costs of housing prisoners accused of violating state statutes. It is about time Missouri does something to rectify the inequitable practice.