Health Care in U.S. Correctional Facilities — A Limited and Threatened Constitutional Right

Abstract

Lacking quality standards, robust monitoring, and funding from public medical insurance programs, correctional administrators must provide healthcare for incarcerated people with limited guidance and often scarce resources. Incarcerated people have little recourse for woefully inadequate medical care except litigation, but they face multiple barriers to accessing the legal system and counsel, and rare wins yield only incremental relief. In the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it is particularly important to elucidate the relevant legal landscape and explore mechanisms for safeguarding the constitutional right to health care in correctional facilities.A two-pronged approach is needed to ensure robust standards of care for incarcerated persons moving forward. Repeal or amendment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 could provide affected persons with legal recourse so that injuries could be remedied. And proactive legislation could empower an agency to define uniform standards of care, provide incentives for compliance and penalties for noncompliance, and establish an independent, well-resourced federal oversight body that can conduct vigorous, unannounced audits.