The state may have to pay millions of dollars more in treatment costs for inmates infected with hepatitis C, following a federal judge's ruling that said prison officials have been “deliberately indifferent” in caring for thousands of inmates infected with the virus.

The ruling could potentially cost the Florida Department of Corrections as much as $20 million more than what it is already paying to treat inmates with the virus, said Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairman Jeff Brandes, who recently got a preliminary briefing from the department on the issue.

While the state was already mandated by the court to treat inmates with hepatitis C, the ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker expanded the number of inmates who will receive care because it includes those who are at the early stages of the disease.