Hunter
07/16/25
The State of Iowa has issued a request for proposal for a private takeover of inmate healthcare at Iowa’s state-run prisons.
The Gazette reports an aging inmate population — roughly two-thirds of which are managing a chronic condition or require ongoing medical or mental health treatment — is among the reasons Iowa may contract a private company to provide health care services.
The state says 17 percent of their prison population are over 50, 30 percent of which have four or more chronic conditions. Approximately 60-70 percent require ongoing medical or mental health treatment, and nearly half of the inmates have a substance abuse disorder.
The RFP says about 300 Iowa Department of Corrections health care workers would be affected, and the proposal stipulates that those workers must have an opportunity to be considered for employment by the private company.
A recent Pew Charitable Trusts study showed that by 2015, at least 20 states had fully privatized their prison health care services. However, a report from Reuters found that between 2016 and 2018, prisons that relied on one of the five leading private prison health care companies saw higher death rates than facilities with government-run health care services.
The newspaper reports companies interested in proposing their services to providing health care at Iowa’s prisons must indicate their interest to the state by the end of this month, and proposals are due by Sept. 26. Should they go with a private contractor, the state will award them with an initial contract of three years.