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The true cost of Kentucky’s drug testing everyone on welfare
Warning if you hate math just skip to the end of the article
The central questions is just how many people have to fail the drug test subtracting the cost of the test, the cost of administering the test, prosecuting and jailing the people who fail the test before the state makes any money?
To aid us in determining these costs lets look at the the State of Michigan which actually tried this.
.In the five weeks that the program was in effect, the drug tests were positive in only eight percent of the cases, a percentage that is consistent with drug use in the general population. Of 268 people tested, only 21 tested positive for drugs and all but three were for marijuana.
Lets assume Pot users don’t lose their benefits that means 3 out of every 268 people will lose their welfare benefits. Pee tests for
Marijuana Methamphetamine Methadone
Cocaine Ecstasy Oxycodone
Opiates Benzodiazepines PCP Amphetamine Barbiturates
http://www.drugtestsuccess.com/
Cost $2.50 each if you buy them in bulk, $2.50 a test 11 tests =$27.50
If we a assume 5 minutes a test a Registered Nurse (RN) in Kentucky gets $22.83 an hour 11 tests 55 minutes lets say an hour total to test one person just to keep the math simple.
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/State=Kentucky/Hourly_Rate
$22.83+ 27.50 = 50.33 worth of extra cost to Kentucky’s welfare program for every person tested.
Assuming potheads keep their benefits testing 268 people at $50.33 each costs the state $13,488.44 every 268 people just to get the 3 people using drugs assuming that Kentucky is as drug filled as Michigan.
Just to be fair to Kentucky’s financial planning but not their moral compass. I will assume that they won’t make an honest attempt to help the drug addicts who fail this program. Since I have heard no mention of Kentucky planning to enroll everyone who fails a drug test in intense rehab ( By intense I mean a week to get clean either locked up or daily drug tests and follow up drug counseling once a week for 6 months.) So I will leave out the costs of drug rehab.
What I won’t leave out is the cost of Kentucky prosecuting all those welfare people who fail the test and are either arrested on the spot or arrested after they turn to crime because in this economy they won’t find jobs. After all even if they quit drugs right after failing the test they still need to eat and now they just lost their welfare benefits Kentucky cannot just expect them to just lay down and die. People need food they need money they will try and get it one way or another.
The annual cost of prison is a shocking $19,000 per prisoner and growing.
http://www.kentucky.com/2010/08/11/1385164/three-pronged-attack-on-prison.html
58,124 people on Welfare in Kentucky in 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/25/us/20090126-welfare-table.html
So then testing 268 people at $50.33 each costs the state $13,488.44 just to get 3 people and there is 58,124 people on welfare in Kentucky it will cost $19,000 per prisoner to jail the 216 people who we can expect to fail the test.
58,124/268= 216 people
Next take 58,124 * the $50.33 cost of the test and you get $2,925,380
Then take 58,124/268 and you get 216 people who will fail the drug test
At $19,000 * the cost of jailing 216 people for a year = $4,104,000
Add $4,104,000 add $2,925,380 and you get $7,029,380 as the total cost to Kentucky assuming they test everyone.
Next add $7,029,380/216 = $32, 543. 42
$7,029,380 cost to take 216 people off Kentucky’s welfare rolls thats $32, 543. 42 so for this program to make Kentucky money they would need those 216 people we expect to fail the drug test to make at least a dollar more than that in welfare benefits or $32, 544. 42 a year as individuals since their kids or other dependents would of course still get welfare.
Now just imagine the costs if I had factored in pot users!
21 Comments
I wonder what Kentucky will do with all the kids who’s mom’s they jail?
“Just to be fair to Kentucky’s financial planning but not their moral compass. I will assume that they won’t make an honest attempt to help the drug addicts who fail this program. Since I have heard no mention of Kentucky planning to enroll everyone who fails a drug test in intense rehab ( By intense I mean a week to get clean either locked up or daily drug tests and follow up drug counseling once a week for 6 months.) So I will leave out the costs of drug rehab.”
Apparently, the plan is to cut the family benefits altogether, and the children will have to find their own milk while the parents are in jail. Recommended.
Failing a drug test does not make one a drug addict. The purpose of this kind of legislation is to cause suffering and death for the poor. It’s not about money. It’s about hatred and blood lust.
You said it. Why dilly-dally? Why not just pen a Final Solution Bill and lock people up just because they are poor?
Agreed failing a drug test does not make one an addict still if you were an addict Kentucky won’t help you.
Guess the Shock Doctrine Rove-ities of Ken-turkey feel like they are losing control and have to institute some police state policies and procedures, eh?
Great the Chicago School of Economics having failed in South America now want to remake America the way they did South America never mind that after their little experiment in the 70′s with CIA supported coups that now just how many South American countries have gone Left? Never mind that American Companies are investing there in emerging markets rather than investing in America.
In a sense the people with Capital would rather invest in Brazil, China, India, Korea and other countries with no free trade and a growing safety net than invest in a country with free trade and a shrinking safety net.
The Chicago School Economists need to follow the money the Rich are not stupid.
As far as government regulation goes China makes etc do make products they sell to the EU that meet their very strict regulations they just sell the crap unsafe, unhealthy stuff to us because they can.
While I agree with your premise that this testing is discriminatory and will end up costing Kentucky taxpayers more than it’s worth, I must take issue with your math.
If the cost of 11 tests is $27.50, and a nurse would earn $22.83 in the time it took to administer and process those 11 tests, the total comes to $50.33. However, you neglected to divide that figure by 11. Doing so means the actual cost is $4.58 per person, not $50.33.
Sorry for the correction, but numbers are what they are.
Each test for the 11 drugs that I found on the drug test website costs 2.50 each I assumed that Kentucky will test for all 11 drugs although they could test for more drugs. Sorry if I was not clear before.
Also I assumed that each of the 11 tests takes 5 minutes for the nurse to administer thats 55 minutes. I rounded up 5 minutes to make it a whole hour to keep the math simple.
I was worried that the math was getting to complex in the post but I need to show the math so people like you can check me:)
Things: How much to house an inmate?
The annual cost of prison is a shocking $19,000 per prisoner and growing.
http://www.kentucky.com/2010/08/11/1385164/three-pronged-attack-on-prison.html
$19,000 a year and thats the cost in Kentucky.
I love math.
My 23 year old daughter is on medicaid. She has been disabled since birth with cerebral palsey. She is in a wheel chair and cannot work. If her medicaid were revoked for any reason, she would be most likely be dead in three months and suffer excruciating pain in the process. If marajuana were able to relieve any of her discomfort, I would make every effort to acquire it for her.
How is it that the party of compassionate conservatives gets away with calling the democrats the party of “Death Panals”?
things: twitter’d.
Worse than feudalism.
Don’t forget the medicaid patients denied transplants in Arizona by Gov Jan “Death Panel” Brewer and her Republican cohorts. Two have already been martyred there with more to come.
Ohhhh…I misunderstood – didn’t realize you meant 11 individual tests per person. My bad!!! My bad!!!
While I’m pretty good at math, I know nada about drug testing protocols. Never had to take one – thank goodness.
My apologies.
I don’t think anyone that fails the drug test inorder to get welfare will be jailed.
They can’t prove that the person actually has used drugs with just a positive test result. They have to have the evidence, unless the person is on probation.
But perhaps in Kentucky, with the high rate of speed addiction perhaps they can use the test results to target law enforcement stings for the prison-labor industry.
http://www.unicor.gov/about/about_fpi_programs/?navlocation=InmateProgram
Public outcry the first time a murder, rape or child abuse happens from a welfare person who fails the drug test but is not thrown in jail will make not jailing people politically impossible.
Also I suspect Dark People will be the first to get tested in numbers bigger than the population.