HARDWICK, Ga. - Razor wire topping the fences seems almost a joke at the Men's State Prison, where many inmates are slumped in wheelchairs, or leaning on walkers or canes.

The soaring number of aging inmates is now outpacing the prison growth as a whole

Tough sentencing laws passed in the crime-busting 1980s and 1990s are largely to blame. It's all fueling an explosion in inmate health costs for cash-strapped states.

The graying of the nation's prisons mirrors the population as whole. But many inmates arrive in prison after years of unhealthy living, such as drug use and risky sex. The stress of life behind bars can often make them even sicker.

once they enter prison walls, they aren't eligible for Medicaid or Medicare,

This number is going to keep going up and up until they address the issues that are putting these people there in the first place

"It's heart-rending to see some of the older people in the condition they're in

"What can an 80-year-old man in a wheelchair do? Run?"