Cherri Gregg talks to lifers at State Correctional Institution Muncy about the challenges of staying healthy in prison. People like Terri Harper, who has served 35 years, feel like their concerns aren’t taken seriously by the medical system. Terri has had seven surgeries in the last 15 years and has had to wait for long stretches to get the care she’s needed.

Nutrition is also a challenge in prison. There’s a black market for vegetables, and many inmates have to buy from the commissary to get enough to eat. These conditions and lack of preventative care results in many inmates being diagnosed with diseases like cancer at late stages and requiring advanced care. About a quarter of deaths at Muncy between 2000 and 2025 were due to cancer, slightly higher than the national average.

All of this is resulting in more costs being borne by taxpayers. Even though Pennsylvania's prison population has gone down since 2002, the state’s annual healthcare costs have more than doubled, now exceeding $366 million a year.

Dying on the Inside: Women Lifers at Muncy Prison is a production of Create. Genius. Media and Temple University's Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting. Presented by WHYY

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