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Author Bio

Dr. Brian Wyant is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the La Salle University. He earned his PhD in criminal justice from Temple University in 2010. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Criminology, Qualitative Health Research and Social Science Research. Current and recent work has examined financial stressors for incarcerated individuals and an evaluation of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program.

Dr. Holly Harner, Ph.D., MBA, MPH, CRNP, WHCNP-BC, is currently the Associate Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs and an Associate Professor of Public Health at La Salle University. She is a former Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Health Equity Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her research interests include gender-related health disparities with a specific emphasis on incarcerated women.

Abstract

Although research has found that requiring incarcerated individuals to pay fees for medical service decreases use, there are still important unanswered questions about this association: 1) Is the copayment fee a barrier to those seeking medical attention? 2) If so, what individual factors are associated with viewing the copayments as the reason to avoid seeing a medical professional? Using 2012 survey data collected from 45 incarcerated persons housed in a maximum security prison on the East Coast, it was discovered that over 70% of the men surveyed reported avoiding medical services at least once in the past three months due to the five dollar copayment. Further, participants with higher levels of education were significantly less likely to indicate the co-payment fee was a barrier and avoid getting medical attention, relative to those with lower levels of education. Lastly, potential explanations and policy suggestions are discussed.

Funding

The authors received no financial interest/benefits from this research.

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