Thousands of prisoners would do just about anything to get out of prison. One man committed a crime with the intention of getting in! Why?
In early June, James Verone, 59, devised a plan that was sure to get him arrested. Stepping into a bank in Gaston, NC, Verone gave the teller an unusual bank robbery note. In addition to asking the teller to hand over the lowly amount of one dollar, Verone also demanded medical treatment. Instead of fleeing as most bank robbers do, Verone patiently waited for the police to come and arrest him.
After working as a delivery man for Coca Cola for 17 years, Verone was laid off. He managed to find work as a truck driver, and then took a part-time job at a convenience store. With his health steadily deteriorating due to arthritis, carpel tunnel syndrome, and an unusual protuberance on his chest, Verone was in constant pain and desperate. Unable to afford healthcare, Verone decided that his only option was to go to a place where healthcare is generally free -- prison.
His bold, and cleverly devised, plan worked. After sending the Gaston-Gazette newspaper a letter announcing his crime, with a return address listed as the Gaston County Jail, Verone jumped into a cab to go to the RBC Bank. As he handed the teller his note, Verone knew that his demand of one dollar would mean he would only be charged with larceny, not bank robbery. In case the judge doesn’t sentence him to enough time to get his medical problems resolved, Verone stated that he will threaten to rob a bank again. He refuses to pay the reduced bond the judge has ordered. Verone plans on staying in prison until he gets treatment for his back, foot, and chest protuberance. Happily, for him, he has been scheduled to see a doctor in jail.
Verone believes that if America had a better health care system he would not have had to commit a crime to receive government sponsored prison medical treatment. Not everyone buys this view. Although for-profit hospitals are not obligated to provide free care for patients without health insurance, non-profit hospitals have a program in place that provides treatment at no cost, or at a discounted rate.
Free care is offered at non-profit hospitals to patients whose income does not exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Also, according to Yale New Haven Hospital, one-such non-profit hospital which provides free care “Patients whose income does not exceed 400 percent of the federal poverty level and do not have insurance will be considered eligible for our Sliding Scale discount. Sliding Scale income exceptions may apply for patients with hospital bills that exceed 10 percent of their annual income.” This program is also available at other non-profit hospitals. It is unclear if Verone tried to apply for free or reduced rate medical care at a non-profit hospital in his area.
It is also unclear whether Verone ever spent time in prison. Many inmates have a decidedly different view of prison health care. For one thing, health care is not necessarily free. Co-pays are charged in many correctional facilities. A two dollar co-pay in jail often amounts to almost a week’s pay. Also, the question must be asked, “Is free health care worth giving a up your freedom?” The trade off seems a bit lop-sided. Verone admitted that he forgoes some meals so that he doesn’t have to be around other inmates. Prison can be a harsh, scary place. If Verone did not have high blood pressure before entering jail, he will likely exit with the disease. (See Reentry Central News Physicians Claim America’s “Epidemic of Mass Incarceration” Responsible for Health Crisis Among Prisoners and Newly Released Individuals 6/10/11)
And then there is the quality of prison health care. With strict budget constraints not every ailment is going to get diagnosed or treated. Usually only life threatening or serious illnesses receive medical attention. “Minor” ailments like arthritis or carpel tunnel syndrome, two conditions Verdone claims to have, are regulated to the back burner in the prison triage system. Under a post of a news article about Verone, comments from apparent former prisoners included “He should only know the quality of health care in jail,” “Imagine his surprise” and “It's sort of like living in the worst HMO in the world... and the HMO owns you…” and “It took me 7 months to get an x-ray and I was only there for 9 months.”
No one doubts that Verone needs medical treatment, but there are doubts that committing a crime that terrified the teller, and which added to an already overcrowded and overburdened system, was the wise thing to do. The irony is that the judge in Verone’s case can “punish” him for his transgression by ordering him to be released from jail. That option might put a crimp in Verone’s plans to get all the health care he can while he is locked up, apply for social security when released, and “move to the beach.”
If there is an “up” side to Verone’s story, it may be that health providers might be moved to educate the public on the availability of free or reduced-cost medical programs , so that others will not feel that they need to commit a crime to receive attention.
Source: The Lookout, Yahoo News Blog 6/21/11
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