Medical copay in Michigan prisons? Nonsense!

Insisting that residents of Michigan’s prisons come up with a copay before they can receive medical or dental help just doesn't make sense! 

If you live in any one of the state prisons in Michigan you must cough up $5 before you can see a medical specialist in healthcare. On the surface that doesn’t seem like much. But, you must factor in prison wages for those who are fortunate enough to get a job. The pay scale is likely to be in the area of 70 cents an hour. 

Now consider how rotten the food program is in our prisons…bad food and small portions. So, that prompts those who live behind bars to use the vending machines and microwave ovens. When they have only a few bucks to spend, and the choice is between food or medical care, guess which one wins! 

I’m bringing this up, once again, because I just saw a note that said the MDOC collected more than $126,000 in medical and dental copays during the 2025 fiscal year. The MDOC annual budget exceeds $2.1 billion! That means that it costs Pure Michigan over $5 million a day just to keep the prisons operating. The state cannot possibly be hoping for a profit by doing this. That money collected last year was about 0.012% of the total budget! 

Other arguments in favor of co-pay policies are also weak, often centered on preventing frivolous health-care visits. 

But, let’s consider the strong positions against medical and dental co-pay. Here’s the first and simplest of them all: When prisoners opt not to go to healthcare, because they can’t afford it or because they don’t have the dollars, there’s a good chance that their condition will worsen. That could mean higher health care costs for the state when the patient finally winds up in healthcare. 

Then the next related strong point: When avoiding early treatment for a health issue, the ailment is more likely to be spread among others. Is that difficult to understand? 

I’ve even heard some arguments that Poor health outcomes can contribute to higher rates of recidivism, as untreated issues may lead to reoffending. 

As of now, only a few states have eliminated healthcare copays for prisoners. California and New York have made significant changes to their policies. Trying to get our state legislators to consider any prison issues has been an uphill struggle, so there’s probably little hope that copay policies will be modified soon. 

However, it’s just common sense to either eliminate the fees, or at least reduce them. Not only would that make it easier for people living behind bars to get early treatment, but my guess is that it would result in an entire healthier population. 

Tell your state legislator. We will, too. 

"Health care is a right, not a privilege" – Unknown