Less than 1 percent of the Texas prison population needs dialysis, a treatment that removes waste and water from the bloodstream. But they are an expensive group — and their ranks are growing. “They’ve got elevated blood pressure and have gone so long without treatment, they’ve made their kidneys work harder, to the point of needing dialysis,” said Dr. Owen Murray, the chief physician for UTMB’s correctional managed care program, the primary health care provider for inmates at 109 state prisons. “They’re more complicated to care for,” said Murray of prisoners with kidney disease. This week, he told lawmakers about the increasing costs of chronic kidney disease in prison. The article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune.