Of about 650,000 homeless in America 63 % are individuals, the rest are families. Prior to the ACA childless individuals and
individuals without disability could not be enrolled under Medicaid. A large
number of the homeless face mental health conditions, substance abuse, and
alcohol abuse issues and could benefit from regular medical care instead of relying on ER's. ACA’s expansion of Medicaid coverage
to include low-income childless-adults is a huge step in providing a large
number of America’s homeless with access to healthcare. Kaiser Family
Foundation recently issued a report on this, the 5 page executive summary of the
report can be found at the link below
http://www.kff.org/medicaid/8355.cfm
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On a related note, there is an interesting article in Health Affairs on the historical reflections and family experience of a Connecticut lawmaker re: passing mental health care legislation to 'fix' the system in the 1980s, and his son's experience with (for many years) undiagnosed mental illness and homelessness. Includes a thoughtful list of things he would do differently to support mental illness if he had the chance to do it again. Sadly, the list seems all too out of reach in the context of our current health care system.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/31/9/2138.full
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