Dental costs for county jail: $35,000

Posted 8/21/12

MONTICELLO, NY — Due to the fact that six of the nine Sullivan County legislators are still rather new to the task, sometimes questions arise because county obligations and the relationship between …

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Dental costs for county jail: $35,000

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MONTICELLO, NY — Due to the fact that six of the nine Sullivan County legislators are still rather new to the task, sometimes questions arise because county obligations and the relationship between the county and the state may come as a surprise to some legislators.

Such was the case at a meeting at the government center on April 7, when legislators were asked to approve $35,000 for a contract between the county and an organization named Dental Trust, to provide dental services for inmates at the Sullivan County Jail.

Legislator Joe Perrelli asked, “Do we get reimbursed for the inmates? What if someone here goes to jail, you don’t have a license, insurance, whatever, you get into a fight, a tooth gets knocked out. You go to a dentist, he fixes your tooth. Who pays for that? Would I have to pay for that?”

The answer was that when a person is in the custody of the county jail, the county is responsible for the inmate’s health and wellbeing.

Perrello persevered and added, “What about root canal?”

With regard to recovering the money from the state, another legislator asked of jail administrator Hal Smith, “We could ask, couldn’t we, Hal?”

It stated on the resolution to sign the contract that dental care is a state requirement, but Smith answered with a deadpan, “Yeah, go for it,” although the laughs in the room clearly indicated that most understood there is no way any state officials would agree to such a request.

County Manager Josh Potosek said the situation was the same for medical care. He said a person’s medical expenses could be covered by Medicaid, but coverage stops as soon as the person is incarcerated, and the care becomes a local expense.

Legislator Ira Steingart wondered whether, if a person had health insurance, the situation would be different. Smith said, “No.” He said, “You become incarcerated, you lose your health insurance.”

There were a couple of joking remarks suggesting that people might wait until they’re in need of root canal work, then commit a crime just serious enough to end up in jail.

However, Smith said, “Keep in mind, we’re not doing cosmetic dental work. We’re not putting your tooth back in if it got knocked out. You’re either getting an extraction or you’re getting a filling; that’s pretty much it.

Without missing a beat, Legislator Catherine Owens asked, “Are you getting novocaine?” which elicited another round of laughter.

Smith said “I’m not the dentist.”

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