Arizona's privatized prison health care has been failing for years. A new court case could change that

Michele Deitch, a prison policy lecturer at the University of Texas, and others believe there may be an incentive to keep staffing and care at or below minimum.

"There are questions about whether private health care [is] capable of providing appropriate services, given that the profit motive is going to interfere with the provision of care," said Deitch. "They have a built-in incentive to limit the treatment that's provided."