Community Savings, or Community Threat? California Policy for Ill and Elderly Inmates
This case looks at the challenges that confront public health professionals who work in a corrections environment. By 2011, a court-appointed Receiver had made progress in fixing a broken system of medical care for prisoners in California. But costs spiraled ever higher for elderly and ailing inmates. Public health officials had to balance competing public priorities: save taxpayer dollars, and treat patients. A new law allowed the sickest prisoners to move to community-based care—but now public health doctors had to decide: who qualified for medical parole? Inmate Carl Wade’s case was a tough call.
Case number:
MSPH-12-0002.0
Category:
Public Health and Medical Cases
Topics:
None
Teaching resources:
Epilogue,
Teaching note