The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FEDERAL PRISONER HEALTH CARE COPAYMENT ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S10706-S10707 on Oct. 18, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FEDERAL PRISONER HEALTH CARE COPAYMENT ACT
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I am pleased the President recently signed into law the Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act. As you know, Senator Jon Kyl and I introduced last year a bill to require Federal prisoners to pay a nominal fee when they initiate certain visits for medical attention. Fees collected from prisoners will either be paid as restitution to victims or be deposited into the Federal Crime Victims' Fund. My State of South Dakota is one of 38 States that have implemented State-wide prisoner health care copayment programs. The Department of Justice supported extending this prisoner health care copayment program to Federal prisoners in an attempt to reduce unnecessary medical procedures and ensure that adequate health care services are available for prisoners who need them.
My interest in the prisoner health care copayment issue came from discussions I had in South Dakota with a number of law enforcement officials and US Marshal Lyle Swenson about the equitable treatment between pre-sentencing Federal prisoners housed in county jails and the county prisoners residing in those same facilities. Currently, county prisoners in South Dakota are subject to State and local laws allowing the collection of a health care copayment, while Marshals Service prisoners are not, thereby allowing Federal prisoners to abuse health care resources at great cost to state and local law enforcement.
As our legislation moved through the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate last year, we had the opportunity to work on specific concerns raised by South Dakota law enforcement officials and the US Marshals Service. I sincerely appreciate Senator Kyl's willingness to incorporate my language into the Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act that allows state and local facilities to collect health care copayment fees when housing pre-sentencing federal prisoners.
I also worked with Senator Kyl and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to include sufficient flexibility in the Kyl-Johnson bill for the Bureau of Prisons and local facilities contracting with the Marshals Service to maintain preventive-health priorities. The Kyl-
Johnson bill prohibits the refusal of treatment for financial reasons or for appropriate preventive care. I am pleased this provision was included to pre-empt long term, and subsequently more costly, health problems among prisoners.
The goal of the Kyl-Johnson Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act is not about generating revenue for the Federal, State, and local prison systems. Instead, current prisoner health care copayment programs in 38 States illustrate the success in reducing the number of frivolous health visits and strain on valuable health care resources. The Kyl-Johnson bill will ensure that adequate health care is available to those prisoners who need it, without straining the budgets of taxpayers.
____________________
