Making Prisoners Pay for Their Food and Medical Care is Absurd

I was talking to some people the other day about the criminal justice system in the US and, among other things, the issue of prisons and prisoners' rights came up. We talked about the idea of privatized prisons, what they mean to people, and how they reflect people's understandings of society and justice.

Someone mentioned the proposal in Nevada that inmates start to pay for their daily food and all medical expenses. In general we were all in agreement that this was a bad idea. What happens when they can't pay for food? What happens when they can't pay for medical care? Do we let them starve and get sick? Its not like inmates make much money. Who else this could effect? The family members of the prisoners would likely be the first asked to help out the inmates financially. None of these situations sound like something anybody would want.

An interesting suggestion was made about how the inmates might pay. We could treat it like a loan. Give the prisoners their accommodation, medical care, food, etc. and have them pay back the 'loan' once they get out. This idea, seemingly good on the surface, falls short in my mind.