Number of Older Inmates Grows, Stressing Prisons
The number of Americans in prison older than 55 is growing at a faster rate than the group’s share of the population at large, and many prisons are unprepared to provide them with health care, which can cost as much as nine times more than for younger inmates, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Friday.
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The report found that the number of imprisoned men and women 65 years and older grew by more than 90 times the rate of the total prison population from 2007 to 2010. While the number of those older inmates increased by 63 percent, the number of all inmates rose by just 0.7 percent.
State or federal prisons now hold about 26,200 people 65 years and older, and about 124,000 inmates older than 55, the report said. The number of incarcerated people who are older than 55 has grown at a rate six times that of the rest of the prison population.
While most elderly inmates have been in prison for years, the number of older people just entering has also been increasing — along with the cost of their care.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/us/older-prisoners-mean-rising-health-costs-study-finds.html
looks like too many uninsured folk have been stealing candy just to get jail health care?
= new reply since forum marked as read
