CASPER (WNE) — Gov. Mark Gordon is recommending the Legislature reject a $4 million proposal to treat Wyoming inmates who have hepatitis C — something corrections department officials say is in keeping with local standards and with recent court cases across the country.

One-hundred thirty-eight inmates in Wyoming’s prisons have hepatitis C in one of three categories of severity. Currently, the state treats those who have deteriorated into the two worse categories. Treatment, which in recent years has effectively cured the viral condition, is expensive: A corrections department official told lawmakers last month that it can cost thousands of dollars.

Robert Lampert, the director of the corrections department, told lawmakers last month that while people on Medicare or Medicaid are fully covered for hepatitis C treatment, inmates can’t enroll in either program and thus aren’t covered.

Corrections officials asked lawmakers for money last year to treat patients. That request was denied, and legislators instead asked for more information on the extent of hepatitis C in Wyoming’s prisons. Testing revealed that roughly 8 percent of the state’s inmates had the disease, compared to more than 17 percent nationally.

In that report, Lampert wrote that the $4 million request was a “one-time” ask. Going forward, he said, hepatitis C treatment will be part of the state’s contract with the independent medical company that provides treatment to inmates.