Connecticut decreased per-inmate spending on prisoner health care by 4% from 2007 to 2011, according to a
report from the Pew Charitable Trust and the MacArthur Foundation. The drop, from $5,430 to $5,211 (in inflation-adjusted 2011 dollars), came during a period when state per-inmate health care spending increased by a median of 10% nationally.
The report points to the following factors that cause an increase in per-inmate spending:
- "The distance of prisons from hospitals and other providers.
- The prevalence of infectious and chronic diseases, mental illness, and substance use disorder among inmates.
- An aging inmate population.”
Connecticut has the lowest percentage of prisoners age 55 and older — 4%. The average for the 42 states where the data was available was 7.1%.
Total spending on prison health care has decreased, too, by 10%. Connecticut’s prison population has decreased by 6%.
