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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's prison has a growing population of elderly inmates, sending its medical costs soaring.
"The fact that a larger proportion of our inmate population is aging is going to mean a tremendous burden for us," said Richard Garden, clinical director for the Utah Department of Corrections. he said.
The Department of Corrections defines elderly inmates as those who are 55 and above, because many are physiologically older than their age after years of drug and alcohol abuse. They are more likely to suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and strokes.
Most of them were 55 or older when they were sentenced to prison, according to the Utah Aging Initiative report. About 61 percent were convicted of a sex offense.
In just the past six years, the number of elderly inmates at the prison has risen 67 percent while the overall population increased just 11 percent.
The impact on the Corrections budget is significant, Garden said.
While per capita medical costs for younger inmates typically range from $400 to $600, older inmates' per capita costs range between $2,000 and $12,000.
On average, inmates 55 and older cost 16 times more for medical care, he said.
"That is a cost to us that is real and currently unfunded."
Meanwhile, medical premiums continue to rise steeply -- about 8 percent to 10 percent each year, Garden said.
Garden estimates that for every 0.1 percent increase in elderly inmates, Corrections can expect a 1.3 percent increase in medical costs.
Corrections, which is required by federal law to provide medical care, is tightening its belt in other areas of prison operations to make up for the climbing costs.
Fewer medical staff members are taking on more responsibilities, Garden said. Some services have been privatized. Inmates' outside medical treatment is being more closely reviewed and scrutinized, and Corrections has taken on the role of a managed health care system.
"There is not too much more to squeeze from the turnip here," he said.
Garden expects that in the coming years, the prison will begin exploring the possibility of a geriatric unit at the prison.
"I really think it will happen in a few years. Our problem is the bed crunch. The beds are so tight, we can't afford to have a section dedicated to geriatric inmates and then have a few beds open and no one qualifies (for them)," he said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
