By Corrections1 Staff
MALONE, N.Y. — As a cost-savings measure, a local sheriff is proposing that the county pay for inmates’ medical insurance premiums.
Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill told county officials that if they were to pay the premiums, the inmates’ insurance coverage will not lapse while they are behind bars, the Watertown Daily Times reports. This would allow the county to use the inmate’s own health insurance to cover medical costs.
Mulverhill noted that it might be close to 10 to 15 inmates a year, who have their own insurance and the county would still have to pay medical bills for roughly 800 to 900 inmates each year. The plan also would not apply to people covered by Medicaid and Medicare.
A public hearing on the proposed local law will be scheduled on Nov. 2.