The Vance County Board of Commissioners is considering putting a health copay in place for individuals detained in the Vance County Detention Center.
Finance Director Katherine Bigelow shared information with commissioners during their Monday, Nov. 20 work session.
Board Chair Yolanda Feimster sent the matter to the Public Safety Committee for further discussion and to work through details about how such a policy would work.
Commissioner Dan Brummitt was the sole member of the Public Safety Committee present at the work session; commissioners Sean Alston and Carolyn Faines were not present for the meeting.
Bigelow said she had spoken with officials in more than 25 counties as part of her research; “we are the only ones that do not do this,” she told commissioners.
Bigelow and County Manager Renee Perry said it would help curb costs for detainees who may make unnecessary trips to the health care provider – racking up a hefty fee for the county each time.
This would encourage inmates to take responsibility of their own health care, they noted. The basic idea is that the inmate may decide to lie down and rest instead of going to the infirmary to get pills for a headache, Perry said.
If the health care provider determines that the visit was not a medical necessity, the individual would be charged a copay; $20 is the allowable limit that can be charged.
“We will not make money on this by any means,” Bigelow noted, adding that $395,000 of the $550,000 budgeted for health care at the jail has already been spent.
In a follow-up statement to WIZS News, Perry said the jail is on track to have an overage of as much as $1 million by the end of fiscal year 2024 if no measures are taken to curb the spending.
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