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Report Says Ohio Prisons Cut Inmate Medical Costs
By: Associated Press
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Authorities say Ohio prisons cut more than $26 million from inmate medical expenses last year.
That's according to a new report from the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee released Wednesday. It shows a 15.2-percent reduction in prison medical expenses last year.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that a $2 inmate co-pay, mail-order drugs, requiring prisoners to buy their own aspirin, and other measures allowed the savings.
The state paid $188.3 million for prison medical expenses last year, compared with $211.5 million in 2011, and $222.8 million in 2010.
The report also showed that the number of inmate patient visits to nurses and doctors dropped by 25 percent last year from 2009.
Correctional Institution Inspection Committee is a legislative agency that monitors and reports on state prisons.