JASPER, Tenn. - Marion County leaders are desperate to find answers to the growing problem of soaring medical care costs for county jail inmates.
The Marion County Sheriff's Department's budget for such costs was all but empty by March with four months left to go in the fiscal year.
The Marion County Commission had to approve overages of $131,000 in March and $149,600 in April, which came out of the county's general fund balance.
At its May meeting, the board unanimously approved another $40,455 to cover inmate medical care expenses since the end of April.
"The sheriff has been working to try to find some ways to lower this cost," County Mayor David Jackson told the board. "He's talked to several companies."
Jackson recommended sending out a formal request for proposals to "see if we can get some assistance from some medical companies that can provide some help."
The board unanimously voted to do so.
"We might get some [proposals]," Jackson said. "We might not."
In the request, he said officials are seeking an organization that can "come in and actually look at the doctor bills and pharmacy bills" to help cut costs.
Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said he spent an entire day recently contacting police departments that are similar in size to Marion's.
His calls revealed that there are some companies that don't necessarily provide cheaper medical services, but instead, focus on insurance filings and studying the medical bills to find savings.
A sheriff from one Tennessee county told Burnett his department had been using a service like that, and it has saved them a lot of money.
"They all said that going this route would save some money," he said.
Every time an inmate is sent to the hospital for medical care, Burnett said it costs the Marion thousands of dollars.
"I don't know how to stop this," he said. "I'm just exploring ideas to save some money because it just keeps going up every year."
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.