The Oregon Department of Corrections is ending the practice of charging inmates for medical devices

The Oregon Department of Corrections will no longer force prisoners to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for medical devices such as hearing aids and prosthetic limbs. The policy change, which came as part of a legal settlement, resulted in the agency refunding thousands of dollars to hundreds of adults in custody.

Until now, if an inmate needed a medical device and couldn’t pay for it up front, the state prison system allocated them wages to cover the cost. Inmates typically earn less than $100 a month.

“There is no insurance in prison and people don’t have access to it,” said Thomas Zito, an attorney with the nonprofit law firm Disability Rights Advocates, who represented people in prison in the class-action lawsuit. “So they would go into debt and then the Oregon DOC would take a certain amount out of their trust account every month to pay off these facilities.”

The agency typically collected half of the inmate’s account balance at the beginning of each month and then the remaining funds at the end of the month.

As part of a legal settlement reached last month, Oregon D.O.C agreed to abandon this practice.

The state prison system has refunded $77,041 to 870 people currently in prison and forgiven $39,683 in medical debt to 30 people. Amber Campbell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said some in custody may have received both.

Campbell also said the 2021 lawsuit helped agency officials realize that the definition of “elective medical devices” needed to be expanded.

“Following court guidance, we are in the process of reviewing and updating our policies regarding health care services,” Campbell told OPB in a statement.

Campbell said these new rules could be finalized by the end of the year.

In 2021, several inmates at the Snake River Correctional Facility in eastern Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit arguing that the Department of Corrections violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“There is no waiver provision for indigent persons,” the lawsuit says. “Therefore, a disabled person requiring an artificial limb to walk, a hearing aid to hear, or a simple wheelchair repair to be able to move must make a down payment or incur significant debt to be able to access the facility with all its programs and services. “

Donald Terrill, who has a lower leg amputated and uses a prosthetic limb, said in the lawsuit that he has paid more than $10,000 to cover the cost of the prosthetic limb since 2013 and still owes more than $14,000. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Terrill was earning about $45 a month, about half of which went to pay for his prosthetic limb.

“If a family member deposits money on their books, administrative regulations allow ODOC to collect any amounts in excess of $40 (including wages) per month,” the lawsuit states. “Therefore, disabled people in prison cannot save money because ODOC will collect any funds left on their books at the end of the month.”

As a result, the quality of life of people with disabilities in prisons is even worse, the lawsuit argued.

Nicholas Pando, who uses hearing aids, was charged $900 for them. According to the lawsuit, like Terrill, the prison system placed a hold on Pando’s trust account every month. As of 2021, he paid the balance over $550 and still owes over $300.

Michael Wesly, a paraplegic who needs a wheelchair to access meals and recreation at the prison, was forced to pay for repairs after the prison system refused to do so.

“He had the means, so he did not incur debts,” the lawsuit reads. “His wheelchair requires regular maintenance, which costs him a lot of money.”

Zito said Oregon is an exception, and states such as Idaho, Washington, California, Colorado, Hawaii and Alaska have abolished the practice.

“This is very important for disabled people in custody,” he said. “People who need durable medical equipment need it to gain independence, to be able to access necessary services while in prison with the level of independence that other prisoners have, and having these devices gives them that independence.”