More on the Third-Party Inmate Health Care System

Statistics surrounding the use of thirty-party health care systems for inmates in county jails raise red flags on several fronts. As mentioned previously in this series, the medical staff contributes to the success or failure regarding the identification of suicidal inmates.

Another aspect of alleged failure with third-party health care is that death rates, in general, tend to skyrocket as compared to custodial deaths recorded when healthcare is from public providers. A common accusation is that the health of inmates is routinely sacrificed to ensure higher profits, and many records that have been scrutinized seemed to give validity to those claims.

Quality of health care is a huge problem according to inmates around the nation, particularly when they are under the charge of third-party providers. Inmates have a right to appropriate medical services, and investigations into many custodial deaths in the country suggest that inmates are routinely denied this civil right.

Observation of Inmates is Neglected

Another leading factor in custodial deaths is the level of supervision or direct observation of inmates. Neglect in this area results in more fights between inmates and more custodial deaths. The reasons for this rampant problem usually include understaffing in jails. Sometimes, it will be discovered that one or more particular jailers have entered observation times that never happened. At-risk inmates and general population prisoners alike are endangered by this lack of surveillance.

See Part 1 of this ongoing series.

All of this website’s posts are meant as helpful resources for Texas inmates. It is never intended to suggest that individuals or institutions have engaged in any wrongs.

–Guest Contributor