Allen County Sheriff Bryan Murphy urged county commissioners to consider hiring Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc., a privately-owned company that specializes in overseeing and delivering medical care to inmates at correctional facilities.
Not only would the service promise less expensive, more efficient care for the inmate population, argued Murphy, it would also provide an extra layer of liability protection should an inmate sue the county claiming inadequate or injurious medical care. [As a sheriff], explained Murphy, there are two big things you get sued on: the jail and civil process. And with the jail, 90 percent of your suits come due to medical issues.
ACH allows its clients to decide on the program of care that best fits the particular correctional facility. To this end, Murphy proposes that the county opt for a registered nurse to work in the jail three days a week, four hours per day. The company would also train correctional staff to take blood pressure, chart a patients progress, and administer other routine health maintenance tasks. A qualified doctor or physicians assistant would visit the jail every other week, and licensed physicians would be available by phone 24/7. Plus, ACH will provide all the medically-indicated pharmaceuticals as part of the program. Finally, said Murphy, ACH keeps a retinue of attorneys on staff should an inmate raise a legal complaint regarding his or her treatment.
And though the program described would cost $70,727 annually, said Murphy, it stands to save the county money in the long run.
Its difficult to predict the health status of future inmates, and over the last few years the countys jail medical fund has not fared well. It seems like were constantly in the hole with jail medical, said the sheriff. Last year, Murphys office budgeted $90,000 for medical care but incurred $91,500 in expenses. In 2017, medical expenses overran the $85,000 budget by a full $17,000.
A significant portion of these costs, continued Murphy, arrive as a result of having to request a local doctor or physicians assistant to come attend to an inmate. Were billed for that. Then theres the medication on top of that. Right now, the $70,000 [for ACH] covers medical visits, prescriptions. … I just think this plan can help us alleviate certain hiccups and problems if we choose to go this route.
The commissioners appeared amenable to the idea, but urged Sheriff Murphy to investigate how much money has been saved in the handful of nearby counties that currently make use of ACH. Sheriff Murphy said he would look into it and report back.
ON THE subject of health care costs, Phil Drescher, an insurance broker from Bukaty Companies, spent a swift 100 minutes reviewing the countys current employee health insurance policy. No action was taken on the matter, but Drescher did promise to return next week to pick up where he left off.
