Kentucky's Department of Corrections will not renew its long-running contract with Wellpath, the embattled prison healthcare company that has provided medical and mental health services to the state's inmate population for more than a decade. The state has instead selected Wexford Health Sources, a Pittsburgh-based company, as its new independent medical provider, with that contract set to begin in January 2027, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Kentucky has contracted with Wellpath, formerly known as Correct Care Solutions, since 2014, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. In a statement, Wellpath said its contract is projected to expire sometime between January 12 and January 26, 2027, telling the paper, “Our contract is projected to expire between January 12 and the 26 of 2027, and Wellpath will no longer provide healthcare services to the Department after that date.” That timeline conflicts with an account from a legislative committee meeting, where officials said the current contract, under a six-month extension, runs through December 31, 2026, according to a report from citizenportal.ai covering the Senate Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary.
The state issues a request for proposals whenever a contract like this nears its end, and the Department of Corrections said it received several proposals in response before reviewing and scoring them against published RFP criteria. Wellpath, once one of the nation's largest for-profit healthcare providers for prisoners, has faced significant financial troubles in recent years and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the past three years — the same filing that halted settlement proceedings initially slated for 2024. The Nashville-based company emerged from bankruptcy last year in what it described as good financial standing, and Kentucky corrections officials confirmed in a September committee meeting that Wellpath had exited bankruptcy.
Insurance Disputes Follow Wellpath Across States
Under state law, lawmakers require prisons to have coverage from a licensed insurer, and Wellpath was required to carry its own insurance to pay out lawsuits in case of bankruptcy. The company assured Kentucky it had third-party insurance covering lawsuits alleging negligence and wrongful death, but that assurance has come under scrutiny both in Kentucky and elsewhere.
In bankruptcy filings, Wellpath's director of insurance, James Seitz, described the company's coverage as a fronting policy — an arrangement that, unlike standard coverage, does not require proof that a company can actually pay settlements, even though such policies are typically marketed to assure policyholders the company will be able to pay if needed. The same issue has surfaced outside Kentucky: in Cobb County, Georgia, the sheriff's office filed a lawsuit on February 18 alleging Wellpath did not have the required insurance and failed to pay when corrections officials were sued for medical negligence, with lawyers in Georgia claiming Wellpath misled county officials about the type of coverage it offered.
A Kentucky Death and Two Lawsuits
The dispute over Wellpath's coverage traces back to a death inside an eastern Kentucky prison. Chad Raymond died of endocarditis on May 9, 2021, while in Wellpath's care at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty, after what the record describes as a worsening condition over 11 days in custody before his death. His sister, Brittany Jones, filed two lawsuits that Wellpath ultimately settled, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Jones did not stop there. On October 10, 2025, she filed a second lawsuit, this time against Kentucky's justice cabinet and its officials, accusing them of failing to ensure Wellpath could actually pay wrongful-death and negligence claims. As of October 2025, Wellpath faced 571 pending lawsuits nationwide, including 22 in Kentucky, per the Herald-Leader's reporting. The company is described as the second corrections healthcare system to file for bankruptcy in the past three years, following Tehum Care Services' 2023 filing.
What Happens to the Money and the Workforce
Figures on what Kentucky has actually paid Wellpath diverge across reporting. One account states the state is paying Wellpath $60 million this year to provide inmate healthcare and insure prisons against healthcare-related lawsuits, while a separate report puts the figure at $72 million paid to “New Wellpath LLC” for the current fiscal year. State spending on inmate medical services overall topped $67 million in 2025, according to the citizenportal.ai account of the legislative hearing.
Federal law requires Wellpath to issue a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice — advance warning required before a plant closing or mass layoff — to employees affected by the contract's end. Wellpath employees whose jobs end when the contract expires will not necessarily be out of work altogether: the company said many of its employees may have the opportunity to continue in their current roles with the incoming provider, noting that healthcare positions themselves are expected to continue under Wexford Health Sources once the new contract begins.
