A nearly $47 million jail-care request would use NaphCare’s last renewal option

Fulton County commissioners are scheduled November 4 to consider nearly $47 million for another year of jail medical care and medication—and to use the last renewal option in NaphCare’s existing contract.⁠[1][2]

The Sheriff’s Office seeks up to $40,061,995.68 for physical and mental health services at the Fulton County Jail and other locations, plus an estimated medication allowance of up to $6.93 million. The combined request is $46,991,995.68, about $1.87 million—or 4.1%—above the previous renewal and medication allowances listed in the county’s contract history. Those are contract amounts, not a comparison of actual spending.⁠[1][2]

This would be the ninth of nine renewal options, covering January 1 through December 31, 2027. It is a proposal to extend the existing agreement, not a decision about a replacement contract. The staff request marks all three funding lines as pending commissioners’ approval of the 2027 budget.⁠[2][3]

The Sheriff’s Office recommends approval. The attached July–September performance evaluation gives NaphCare a score of 85, within its “Excellent” range. The evaluation credits the contractor’s follow-up of patients returning from emergency-room visits, completion of mental-health screenings and efforts to verify patients’ medications. Those are the county evaluation’s findings, not an independent assessment of care.⁠[2][4]

The renewal paperwork is less informative about price testing. Its answer to a question about efforts to reduce scope and cost remains “Click here to enter text,” while internet-price and other-jurisdiction comparison fields contain “N/A” entries. That does not establish that no cost review occurred elsewhere: the separate performance evaluation says NaphCare is attempting to reduce HIV-related costs through a new medication protocol.⁠[4][5]

The request is item 26-0753 on the commission’s November 4 agenda. The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Assembly Hall at the Fulton County Government Center, 141 Pryor Street SW, Atlanta.⁠[1]