Health care and corrections have emerged as fiscal pressure points for states in recent years as rapid spending growth in each area has competed for scarce revenue. The intersection of these two spheres—health care for prison inmates—also has experienced a ramp-up, reaching nearly $8 billion in 2011. In a majority of states, correctional health care spending and per-inmate health care spending peaked before fiscal year 2011. However, a steadily aging prison population threatens to drive costs back up.
The data presented here are from the State Health Care Spending Project’s 50-state analysis of prison health care spending from fiscal 2007 to 2011. Read “State Prison Health Care Spending: An Examination” for the full analysis
*Only the 50 states were included in this analysis.