Prison Healthcare In The United States

The state of prison healthcare in the United States tends to be a complicated issue, largely due to it being a hot topic when discussed with the public. Many inmates are in need of some form of healthcare, whether it be medication, counseling, or mental treatments. However, due to the current environment that these prisoners are in, they may not be receiving the care that they need and deserve. This travesty needs to be addressed and remedied posthaste because while prison inmates may be incarcerated for breaking the law, that does not by any means imply that we as a society do not have an obligation to the wellbeing of these citizens. The basis and key position of this topic beyond anything is the discussion of whether or not a person who
As of 2013 the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated inmates in prison totaled 1,574,700 across both state and federal institutions. This large number of incarcerated people coupled along with the increased chance of transmitting or contracting a disease (Bick, 2007) compared to the general un-incarcerated population is a driving point for increased access to healthcare for prisoners. The precedent has also been establish in a ways through the ruling of Helling v. McKinney which found that if an inmate could prove that the willful exposure of second hand smoke would negatively impact his health then a valid Eight amendment claim could be made. The argument to be made here is that this increased exposure risk to diseases can be proven to provide a legitimate health risk to the inmates, and that the denial of at least basic preventive care would be a violation of their Eighth Amendment rights under Helling v.
Beyond life-preserving and preventative measures, there's a simple need for general checkups and simple health solutions. Due to the enclosed environment that they're a part of basic amenities that inmates are a part of they lack basic necessities that most citizens utilize such as over-the-counter medication. General healthcare accessibility is a key requirement for inmates, without them things like migraines or the flu can progress into more serious problems. That migraine can lead to irritability which may lead the inmate to act in a manner that's disruptive effectively stalling his rate of rehabilitation, the man who wasn't able to see a healthcare professional for his flu could develop pneumonia and either require costly emergency treatments to preserve his life or worse, the inmate may lose his life when a simple low-cost appointment could have prevented