The Billion-Dollar Prison Healthcare Shell Game
From Alabama Prison Reform Proposal by R. L. Robinson
February 26, 2026 · 13 min · Season 2 · Episode 10
About this episode
This episode explores the failures of Alabama's prison healthcare system and the implications of outsourcing medical care.
This episode pulls back the curtain on Alabama’s prison healthcare system, where billions in public funds flow through private medical contracts—yet incarcerated people report delayed treatment, denied medications, and preventable deaths. We examine how outsourcing care creates layers of deniability, shields decision-makers from accountability, and shifts costs without improving outcomes. The Billion-Dollar Prison Healthcare Shell Game connects lawsuits, budget data, and lived experience to ask a direct question: when healthcare becomes a contract instead of a duty, who is actually being served—and who is being sacrificed?
People in this episode
Host: R. L. Robinson
Topics covered
- prison healthcare
- Alabama
- outsourcing
- public funds
- accountability
- preventable deaths
Keywords
- prison healthcare
- Alabama
- public funds
- outsourcing
- preventable deaths
- medical contracts
- accountability
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Alabama’s prison healthcare system, private medical contracts
More episodes of Alabama Prison Reform Proposal
- How Alabama Prisons Profit From Inmates · March 5, 2026 · 15 min
- Alabama’s $450 Million Forced Labor Scheme · February 23, 2026 · 15 min
- No More Lives Lost Vigils · February 19, 2026 · 14 min
- FCC Bans Predatory Prison Phone Kickbacks · February 19, 2026 · 16 min
- Alabama’s Punishment Economy · February 16, 2026 · 14 min
- The Starve and Charge Prison Food Trap · February 12, 2026 · 17 min
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