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Lawmakers delay $1B prison healthcare contract over cost, possible conflict of interest

Evan Mealins
Montgomery Advertiser

Alabama lawmakers on Thursday put a temporary hold on a billion-dollar contract for a new prison healthcare provider over concerns with the proposal's cost and a possible conflict of interest between the provider and one of the prison system's primary outside attorneys.

The $1.06 billion contract is for Tennessee-based healthcare provider YesCare, which was previously contracted by the prisons under the name Corizon to supply healthcare services for the Alabama Department of Corrections from April 2023 to September 2027.

Alabama's prisons are some of the most dangerous in the country and were deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020.

The Alabama Contract Review Committee on Thursday delayed sending the contract to the governor's office for final approval for 45 days. The committee doesn’t have the power to stop the state from entering a contract.

ADOC announced last July that it was awarding the contract to YesCare over four other vendors, but the department pulled that offer in the fall after it learned of “the appearance of undue influence” over the decision, ADOC counsel Mary-Coleman Roberts said.

The department issued a new request in September, and in December it again chose YesCare. Roberts tried to assure lawmakers on Monday that any possible conflicts of interest had been rectified.

The alleged impropriety stems from one of ADOC’s primary private attorneys’ involvement with YesCare. Bill Lunsford, whom ADOC has paid tens of millions of dollars to over the years, previously held a seat on YesCare’s Board of Advisors.

Lunsford represents the department in several different lawsuits, including in ongoing litigation from 2014 over the quality of healthcare services provided by ADOC and its contractors. ADOC paid Lunsford more than $7 million last year.

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YesCare announced Lunsford’s role with the company last June. Roberts said Lunsford resigned from the board and cut all ties with YesCare before a new request for bidders was made in September.

The Montgomery Advertiser tried reaching Lunsford at his office phone on Friday.

Roberts said that ADOC only learned about Lunsford’s involvement with YesCare after ADOC first selected the company last July. Roberts said another bidder alleged that someone involved exerted undue influence in the decision.

What exactly happened is unclear. Roberts said “conversations [were] had” but maintained that “[ADOC] did our due diligence, and we did not find that any actual undue influence occurred.”

“But there was enough appearance of [impropriety] that we did not feel comfortable proceeding, and we changed the RFP and gave everyone the same information,” Roberts said.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, peppered Roberts with questions for about 10 minutes over the alleged conflict of interest. England, who has been a vocal critic of the state’s prison system, was concerned about how YesCare made it through the bidding process the first time without the department noticing the potential conflict.

Rep. Chris England has been an outspoken critic of Alabama's prison system. "Based on recent activity, most if not all the things the Department of Corrections is involved in needs to be looked at several times," England said Monday.

“You don’t see how that undermines the entire process?” England said. “… If you go and do it again, and you still end up with the same result, the same appearance of impropriety exists.”

YesCare CEO Sara Tirschwell gave the following statement about the committee's decision to delay the contract.

"We respect the Alabama Legislature’s oversight role in reviewing contracts related to important state services like correctional healthcare. We will continue to work to address any questions on the part of committee members, and we look forward to returning to Alabama on April 1 to serve the people of the state," Tirschwell said.

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Prison healthcare contracts are some of the state’s costliest, and YesCare’s comes in at about $222 million per year for 4.5 years. Alabama paid current provider Wexford $167 million in 2022.

Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, proposed that ADOC may be able to insure some incarcerated people under Medicaid or Medicare to cut costs.

The Southern Poverty Law Center in 2014 sued ADOC over the quality of healthcare services provided by Corizon, which the state contracted from 2012 to 2017. SPLC alleged that ADOC “systemically puts the health and lives of prisoners at risk by ignoring their medical and mental health needs and discriminating against prisoners with disabilities.”

The litigation continued after Alabama selected Wexford as its new prison healthcare provider. Both companies are involved in several lawsuits concerning quality of care across the country.

Corizon selected new leadership and reorganized under the name YesCare last year.

Alabama’s prisons are some of the most dangerous in the country, and prisoners routinely complain of inadequate medical and mental health care. Studies also show that Alabama’s aging prison population is particularly vulnerable to medical issues.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanMealins.

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