Topic > Pros and Cons of Private Prisons - 1144

According to a study conducted by James Blumstein, director of the Health Policy Center at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, private prisons save at least $15 million a year. The cost of housing an inmate in a private prison facility is cheaper than that of traditional government-funded prisons. However, the idea that private prisons benefit the United States is a matter of speculation. But if you were to conduct research on prison privatization, the results would show that America actually saves money every year for every inmate housed in a private facility. For example, according to the New York Times, Richard A. Oppel Jr. stated that “the state is required to provide medical and mental health services to inmates regardless of the severity of their condition, and medical costs average up to 2.44 more dollars a day for prisoners. state prisoners compared to those housed in private homes.” By comparison, Scott Glover also told Central News that daily medical costs per inmate are cheaper at private prisons, at $57.97 compared to $60.66. The reason is that only healthy inmates would be chosen to stay in these private facilities. Additionally, companies can save money because working inmates are full-time, so they wouldn't have to worry about workplace health insurance, unemployment benefits and other checks like