This is enough to make anybody sick.
Maryland spends $5,000 per prisoner on health care each year, according to state statistics. Yet lawyers for the 26,000 state prisoners say it?s not enough because many do not receive medication or must wait weeks for care.
Prisoner advocates are calling for an audit of the medical contractors, who gleaned about $130 million from the state last year. Of course, the state should find out how its contractors spend money and insist on the best care.
But as Sen. Rona Kramer said, “I don?t know why you need an audit to find out that you need to oversee a contract.”
Many prisoners abuse drugs and alcohol, which leads to medical problems. But the figure on its face is shocking. Is the prison a health spa? For that amount of money prisoners should be enjoying regular Botox shots and teeth whitening services.
The number is even more appalling when you think what $5,000 could do for the education of each child of a prisoner. It could pay private school tuition and give each child the chance to complete his or her education and to become a productive citizen, stopping the cycle of violence plaguing so many families of prisoners.
Baltimore City welcomes about 9,000 of the 15,000 inmates released from prison each year in the state. So that money could be put to good use in the region.
The mismanagement of taxpayer money does not shock, unfortunately. It is just the latest in a long line of revelations of poor government oversight, egregious waste and whiffs of fraud.
The Examiner last week revealed that the vast majority of assisted living facilities in the state have not been inspected in the past year despite more than ample staff.
Gov. Martin O?Malley?s State Stat program to monitor agency expenses and performance through regular reviews is too new to cover every state government department. Forcing agencies to adopt it as soon as possible would be a start toward better detecting waste and fraud within state contracts. But given the failure ofhis City Stat program to produce tangible results when he was mayor of Baltimore, he could gain credibility with taxpayers with a more efficient way to catch problems.
O?Malley can order all state agencies to post online an easily accessible database of all contracts and grants.
Citizen sleuthing will help find numerous specific ways to cut the state?s reported $1.5 billion deficit.
If O?Malley does not give state residents access to information on how he?s spending our money, he must explain why.
