Nadia Ramlagan for WVNS
New research showed medical copays are preventing incarcerated people from receiving medical care.
West Virginia’s $5 copay is much higher compared with those of many other states.
Wanda Bertram, communications strategist for the Prison Policy Initiative, said families do not always have the funds to cover repeated doctors visits. She contended copays are strategies states use to keep the number of sick calls down.
“That’s not because people are making frivolous requests,” Bertram asserted. “It’s because prisons often don’t have the resources and simply don’t want to deal with what it would take to actually give incarcerated people the care they need.”
Nearly one in five nationwide have not seen a doctor since entering state prison, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Federal data show people who are incarcerated are more likely to have high blood pressure, asthma, cancer, arthritis and infectious diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV.
Bertram added pregnant people are no exception to the copay rule. She cited research done in 2016 showing the lack of access to prenatal care, noting while the study did not specifically look at the copay issue, it presents a serious obstacle.
“A shocking number of people were not receiving this really important care,” Bertram reported. “Almost 10% hadn’t received an obstetric examination. About a quarter hadn’t seen any outside specialists.”
According to research from Johns Hopkins University, fewer than 10 states have passed laws mandating prisons provide access to prenatal or postpartum health care for incarcerated people.
