"Texans deserve relief from prison health care costs," an article by the Editorial Board of the Austin American Statesman, argues that prison inmates who require a substantial amount of medical care and who pose no threat to society anymore should be released on parole to a medical center that could take better care of them so that Texas tax-payers will get relief from the health care costs.
Because of the nature of the argument, the intended audience would be anyone who does not believe in "do the crime, do the time" notion. The author is aware that anyone who does believe in the notion would completely oppose the argument as he states, "That kind of move may go down hard with Texans who subscribe to the 'do the crime, do the time' notion of criminal justice."Because the audience is so specific, the author provides several solid facts to back up his argument, quoting multiple inmates racking up over $150,000 of health care costs in just one year.
This author gains credibility by citing a report in the Statesman by Mike Ward which covered the topic.The facts are there; statistics indicate that the 8 percent of the prison population that are 55 or older are responsible for 30 percent of the state's health care budget.
Based off of the article alone, I would have to say that I agree. If such a small percentage of people are responsible for such a large percentage of the budget, and there is a way to change that, I think we should. This article has convinced me that it would make sense to allow some of these inmates to be released on parole to a medical center to take care of them if it is going to cost me less money.
Before the article, I was unaware of the problem, but like the article says, the legislature should craft law and policy that would allow the sickest inmates who are least likely to return to crime to be transferred somewhere that would cost less for the Texas citizens.
Because of the nature of the argument, the intended audience would be anyone who does not believe in "do the crime, do the time" notion. The author is aware that anyone who does believe in the notion would completely oppose the argument as he states, "That kind of move may go down hard with Texans who subscribe to the 'do the crime, do the time' notion of criminal justice."Because the audience is so specific, the author provides several solid facts to back up his argument, quoting multiple inmates racking up over $150,000 of health care costs in just one year.
This author gains credibility by citing a report in the Statesman by Mike Ward which covered the topic.The facts are there; statistics indicate that the 8 percent of the prison population that are 55 or older are responsible for 30 percent of the state's health care budget.
Based off of the article alone, I would have to say that I agree. If such a small percentage of people are responsible for such a large percentage of the budget, and there is a way to change that, I think we should. This article has convinced me that it would make sense to allow some of these inmates to be released on parole to a medical center to take care of them if it is going to cost me less money.
Before the article, I was unaware of the problem, but like the article says, the legislature should craft law and policy that would allow the sickest inmates who are least likely to return to crime to be transferred somewhere that would cost less for the Texas citizens.
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