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Court Won’t Decide Florida Prison Health Care Privatization
July 6, 2012
Any court decision on the state’s prison health care system would be moot, a circuit court judge has decided in declining to rule on the issue.
The Legislature put language involving privatization of prison health care into the budget fine print language known as “proviso”, leading to a lawsuit by unions. But the proviso expired with the July 1 start of the new fiscal year and the new budget doesn’t include the same language.
Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll wouldn’t give an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of the issue. The health care proviso called for privatization to lead to cost savings of at least seven percent for the state, compared to 2009-10 expenses.
The process led to the department recommending that Corizon, Inc., receive a contract for prisons in North and Central Florida and that Wexford Health Sources receive a contract in South Florida.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
3 Responses to “Court Won’t Decide Florida Prison Health Care Privatization”
“Private companies can pay a lot more money to attract competent medical poviders than the state who has to scrape from the bottom of the barrel with what they can afford to pay.”
I worked for one of the companies both pre and post merger and I can tell you this is a false statement. They are paying less overall for the same skill-set and they sometimes have a very hard time finding medical professionals willing to work in a correctional environment with all of the downsides for less pay then they’d receive in other venues (long-term care, etc.).
Additionally, they can’t fire someone on the spot as easily as you think. That’s wishful thinking.
I enjoyed working at the company and met many smart, talented people while there. Many where state employees before the company took over. However, the assumption that privatization leads to better or more talented professionals is dead wrong. The company is in the business of making money on very slim margins, much slimmer than other service companies.
If privatization takes place I dont think a doctor or nurse would get fired if he/she helped someone who was not in prison. You are right in the fact that the state is responsible for the inmates medical care, but this is true whether they employ healthcare providers themselves or hire a contractor to do it for them.
If their contractor screws up and someone dies as a result, they are still liable. Private companies can pay a lot more money to attract competent medical poviders than the state who has to scrape from the bottom of the barrel with what they can afford to pay. Go to any public health department see how efficient and professional they are. If you ask most people there for help you will always get the same response…”thats not my job…” as they sit there all day doing nothing but “earning” their entitlement and their retirement. A private company can fire those types of employees immediately on the spot without the paperwork and hassle and replace them with someone at a higher rate of pay who actually wants to work.
Sure, privatize prison medical care. We all saw how well privatizing public services works when the Lifeguard down in south Florida got fired for saving a mans life because the man he saved wasn’t drowning on the part of the beach the private management company was contracted to provide lifeguard services for. Privatizing prisons, or prison medical care, is a bad idea. The state is responsible for putting people in jail (although I’m sure some would like to privatize that as well), therefore, the state is responsible for their well being while they are there.