contlnu
1
continued from page A 1
50 percent match from the feds
for. Medicaid dollars for health
care ervi ," Hillegonds said.
"Today we pick up the full tab
for the health care."
Officials in the Department of
Management and Budget ar
enthusiastic about the idea.
"1 think the idea of being' able
to generat· federal funding to
cover these individuals and if in
fact the right setting can be
found I think it makes terrific
," id John Kost, h d of
privatization or tbe depart­
ment.
A 1991 corrections survey
found that elderly prisoners are
extremely healthy - healthier
than they would be if normal
citizens because of regular
meals and unavailability of .
harmful substances.
MICHIGAN'S ELDERLY
prison population is about 560
- a jump of 77 percent since
. 1987, according to department
records. The number is growing
?y 15 �rcent a year, placing an
mcreasmg burden on extremely
cos�ly h lth care for the elderly,
which costs nearly wice as
much as younger prisoners.
Mic�i�an taxpayers spent
$101. million on prisoner health
�re 10 1992, a 183 percent jump
smce 1985. .
. The incr e is due to a grow-
ing elderly population in general
w�o. proportionately ar com­
�ltt1Og more crimes. In addi­
t io n, mandatory minimum
sentences and economic hard­
��ips have put mor elderly in
Jail. The current model of pris­
o� for young violent males is
?eJng challenged by the increas-
109 elderly population - 45 per­
ce�t of whom are in jail for sex
crimes.
Those prisoner clearly
hould not be let out, but others
who are serving life sent nces
for a crime of passion and do no
�v a history of violent hav­
lor may be xcellent prospects
for early reI ,according to
C?rrections policy analy Wil­
ham Lovett.
. "MY PER 0 L OPI -
I� � that they would be a good
rt k to consider."
.. �vett acknowl ge that po­
litically, releasing prisoners is
risky. "It would only take one of
those guys. to re-offend in th
community to rais hell all ov r
the place 0 that n to be
looked at very cautiously."
Experts point out that some­
tim elderly criminals enjoy le­
nient sentencing due to judges'
sympathy for th ir age. Elderly
advocates counter hat older
pr�ners are bu by younger
pnson rs .
. Theft and ault ar particu-
lar probl ms for aged prisone .
The elderly are unable to defend
them elve . from predatory
young r pri oner , although
most leave them alon .
continued from page A 1
"Michig n ha th fatte t
children in th nation, " id An-
hony. Wha bout children
from fo ign coun ri ? Are th y
unh Ithy American kids?
Su n Ranck, a former life­
guard at Walt Disney World,
ay that compared to the rest of
th vi�itors at Di ney World,
Arner ic nand e pecially
American children m to have
the most evere problem with
.in ov rw ight.
"All the kids from foreign
countri looked like they we
in much better shape [than
Americ n children]," Ranck,
now a graduate student at MSU,
id. "One thing I noticed is that
most of the American famili
would t junk food bought at
the park for lunch, while thema­
jority of foreigners would bring
picnic lunches."
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