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  4. May 2019
  5. The Burgeoning Health Care Needs of Aging Prisoners

The Burgeoning Health Care Needs of Aging Prisoners

  • Hessam Bavafa
  • Anita Mukherjee
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 109, May 2019
(pp. 182-86)
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Abstract

We estimate the increasing health care needs of American inmates by combining data on inmate demographics and national health trends. Decades of harsh punishment combined with demographic shifts have led to a "greying" prison population that is a source of concern for policymakers. Our estimates reveal that inmate health care needs are significant and growing beyond what is predicted by their age profile. While the fraction of inmates aged 40 or more increased by 49 percent between 1996 and 2004, the prevalence of medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and cancer among inmates grew between 177 and 268 percent.

Citation

Bavafa, Hessam, and Anita Mukherjee. 2019. "The Burgeoning Health Care Needs of Aging Prisoners." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109: 182-86. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191089

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • I12 Health Behavior
  • J11 Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
  • J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
  • K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law