CORIZON OVERRIDES IDOC DIRECTOR'S DECISION NOT TO CHARGE CO-PAY TO PRISONERS
In a March 13, 2020 email, Josh Tewalt, Director of IDOC informed prisoners that the medical co-pay charged to Idaho prisoners would be suspended, stating:
"The co-payment charged to people in our custody for health-care services has been suspended to encourage the reporting of symptoms and treatment of COVID-19."
In keeping with the underhanded nature of the company, Corizon Health's Regional Office drafted and posted their own memo to the offender population on the same day (March 13, 2020), qualifying the Director's email, stating:
"In effort to promote the health and wellness of the entire population we are temporarily suspending the medical co-pay for Health Services Requests submitted FOR UPPER AND LOWER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS (FLU, COMMON COLD, ETC)" (EMPHASIS ADDED).
Corizon's version, by limiting the nature of which HSR's will not be charged a co-pay is not only within the scope of the Director's email, it discourages prisoners from reporting other illnesses and injuries, including infections, injuries and other immune system weakening maladies during a time when a compromised immune system - by whatever means - places people at risk of contracting respiratory problems. Even something as mundane as infected toenails can weaken the body's immune system to the point where any virus can take hold - especially in a closed community where most cannot afford to purchase vitamins and very few over-the counter remedies are even sold.
Director Tewalt needs to step up and force Corizon to do what needs to be done, and stop playing with the lives of prisoners, its employees and IDOC staff. Even a $2.00 co-pay represents 10 hours of work (a quarter of the work-week for the prisoner) for a prisoner making $0.20 an hour, and is only enough to buy a bar of soap and a small tube of toothpaste. Like the poor on the streets, medical attention is often outweighed by the need to pay for other necessary items, and the lie that the state provides all that is necessary for even the indigent to survive in prison is old and no longer believed by anyone with the inclination to see.
Corizon Health, known worldwide for padding its bottom line, should pull its head out of its collective ass and realize that prisons are the best breeding ground for the coronavirus, and once in the system, will never thereafter be contained - even within the confines of the walls.
"The co-payment charged to people in our custody for health-care services has been suspended to encourage the reporting of symptoms and treatment of COVID-19."
In keeping with the underhanded nature of the company, Corizon Health's Regional Office drafted and posted their own memo to the offender population on the same day (March 13, 2020), qualifying the Director's email, stating:
"In effort to promote the health and wellness of the entire population we are temporarily suspending the medical co-pay for Health Services Requests submitted FOR UPPER AND LOWER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS (FLU, COMMON COLD, ETC)" (EMPHASIS ADDED).
Corizon's version, by limiting the nature of which HSR's will not be charged a co-pay is not only within the scope of the Director's email, it discourages prisoners from reporting other illnesses and injuries, including infections, injuries and other immune system weakening maladies during a time when a compromised immune system - by whatever means - places people at risk of contracting respiratory problems. Even something as mundane as infected toenails can weaken the body's immune system to the point where any virus can take hold - especially in a closed community where most cannot afford to purchase vitamins and very few over-the counter remedies are even sold.
Director Tewalt needs to step up and force Corizon to do what needs to be done, and stop playing with the lives of prisoners, its employees and IDOC staff. Even a $2.00 co-pay represents 10 hours of work (a quarter of the work-week for the prisoner) for a prisoner making $0.20 an hour, and is only enough to buy a bar of soap and a small tube of toothpaste. Like the poor on the streets, medical attention is often outweighed by the need to pay for other necessary items, and the lie that the state provides all that is necessary for even the indigent to survive in prison is old and no longer believed by anyone with the inclination to see.
Corizon Health, known worldwide for padding its bottom line, should pull its head out of its collective ass and realize that prisons are the best breeding ground for the coronavirus, and once in the system, will never thereafter be contained - even within the confines of the walls.