by David J. Meister
Recently, after 14 years of continual litigation, a federal judge has ordered the takeover of medical services in Arizona state prisons. United States District Judge Roslyn Silver found the prison healthcare system—operated by private profiteer NaphCare—is “AN INTOLERABLE GRAVE AND IMMEDIATE THREAT OF CONTINUING HARM AND SUFFERING because the systemic deficiencies pervade the administration of health care.” See Jensen v. Thornell, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33723, at *16 (D. Arizona Feb. 19, 2026).
Companies like NaphCare promise the moon and pump out glossy PR about their exceptional healthcare product. But the reality is they profit on the back end of funds they receive from governments to provide inmate medical services. The fewer the services they provide, the more profit they make, using the least number of personnel possible (understaffed), at the cheapest wages (under-qualified), and denying or delaying care to inmates (underserved). The notorious Corizon Health Services applied these practices, operating at a level of fraud for decades in states across the country, making BILLIONS, before stiffing creditors and going bankrupt under a mountain of inmate lawsuits claiming inadequate medical care.
I’m in Arizona, but not an Arizona prisoner. I’m an Idaho inmate housed out-of-state in a CoreCivic private prison, the Saguaro Correctional Center. Although not an Arizona-run facility, the healthcare business model here resembles the money machine of NaphCare and Corizon.
Our private medical provider—CoreCivic Health Services—runs the same racket of medical neglect. A recent example among many, an inmate in my housing unit was left with a broken arm for ELEVEN MONTHS. He was denied pain medication and basic care other than an Ace bandage. The bone was not set but would partially heal on its own, then snap again, which it did multiple times. The last time it snapped, another inmate with medical training from his time in the Mexican military reset the bone and improvised a splint with folded cardboard and the old Ace bandage.
Eventually the inmate was provided surgery, but only after pursuing official grievances with the Idaho Department of Correction and threatening litigation. Where was CoreCivic Health Services through all this? Cashing Idaho checks.
And that’s the problem—prisoners are a captive market with few rights. Both captive and a market commodity private prison medical contractors can exploit because inmates have very few remedies against bad prison conditions. For a more detailed discussion of the legal barriers inmates face when pursuing medical claims, see No Recourse: How Prison Medical Providers Avoid Liability.
Until more courts like Arizona’s U.S. District Court finally say enough is enough and hit companies like NaphCare and CoreCivic Health Services where it counts—in the bank account—they will continue to laugh in the face of regulators. A blow to their bottom line might force meaningful change in America’s deteriorating prisons.