Tossed Medicine, Delayed Housing: How Homeless Sweeps Are Thwarting Medicaid鈥檚 Goals
As California cities crack down on homeless encampments in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling authorizing fines and arrests, front-line workers say such sweeps are undercutting billions in state and federal Medicaid spending meant to stabilize people鈥檚 health and get them off the streets.
The Rapidly Evolving Field of Street Medicine
The rapidly evolving field of street medicine 鈥 the practice of providing health care to homeless people living outside 鈥 is getting a jolt in California with a new player: a medical group devoted exclusively to homeless people. And it鈥檚 actually making money. Sachin Jain, who worked on federal Medicaid policy during his tenure in […]
Un grupo m茅dico atiende a personas que viven en la calle鈥 y gana dinero
Estos m茅dicos, enfermeros y trabajadores sociales se est谩n desplegando en las calles de Los 脕ngeles para ofrecer atenci贸n m茅dica y servicios sociales a las personas sin hogar: soldados de un nuevo modelo de negocio que est谩 arraig谩ndose en comunidades de toda California.
A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients 鈥 And Makes Money Doing It
Healthcare in Action, a California medical group that exclusively serves homeless people, has tapped into growing demand and funding for street medicine services. Three years in, the innovative nonprofit is raking in revenue and serving thousands of people who otherwise might flock to the hospital for high-cost care.
Supreme Court OKs Local Crackdowns on Homelessness, as Advocates Warn of Chaos
In a momentous 6-3 decision that could affect communities across the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court gave local officials and law enforcement more authority to fine and penalize homeless people living outside. Advocates for homeless people predict the ruling will lead to more sickness and death.
Battleground Wisconsin: Voters Feel Nickel-and-Dimed by Health Care Costs
In the swing state of Wisconsin, the cost and availability of health care have emerged as key issues. Voters there say prescriptions, procedures, and health insurance policies are too expensive, and must be addressed by the next president, whether Republican or Democrat.
Presidential Politics, Polka and Wisconsin
Wisconsin, the land of fried cheese curds and the Green Bay Packers, is one of a half-dozen key battleground states where President Biden is trying to make health care a key issue in his expected November matchup with former president Donald Trump. Biden narrowly won Wisconsin in 2020, after it went for Trump in 2016. […]
California Pays People With Addiction To Stay Clean 鈥 With Feds鈥 Blessing
Led by California, a few states are testing an experimental program that pays people to stop using hard drugs. The Golden State was the first to win approval from the Biden administration to cover the sobriety payments, with Medicaid wrapping it into an ambitious health-care initiative spearheaded by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to provide the […]
California Pays Meth Users To Get Sober
California鈥檚 Medicaid program is testing a novel approach for people addicted to methamphetamine, cocaine, and other stimulants. For every clean urine test, they can earn money 鈥 up to $599 a year.
Newsom Boosted California鈥檚 Public Health Budget During Covid. Now He Wants To Cut It.
Two years after increasing state and local public health budgets by $300 million annually, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes to slash the funding in the face of California鈥檚 $45 billion deficit.
California鈥檚 $12 Billion Medicaid Makeover Banks on Nonprofits鈥 Buy-In
California鈥檚 Medicaid program is relying heavily on community groups to deliver new social services to vulnerable patients, such as security deposits for homeless people and air purifiers for asthma patients. But many of these nonprofits face staffing and billing challenges and haven鈥檛 been able to deliver services effectively.
Heat Protections for California Workers Are in Limbo After Newsom Abandons Rules
Proposed rules to protect millions of workers from potentially dangerous heat inside workplaces are dead after Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 administration refused to sign off. Labor advocates and state regulators are calling for emergency regulations before temperatures soar this summer.
California Voters Are Skeptical That More Money Is the Answer to Homelessness
California Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 signature ballot measure to address mental illness, addiction, and homelessness with a $6.4 billion bond and other reforms, is barely ahead in the ongoing ballot count. The slim margin reflects a growing unease among Californians over the governor鈥檚 homelessness initiatives.
Newsom鈥檚 $6.4 Billion Homelessness Gambit Hangs by a Thread
California Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 ambitious attempt to combat the mental health and addiction epidemic in his state is leading by a razor-thin margin, calling into question whether voters trust him to confront the state鈥檚 growing homelessness crisis. Newsom asked voters on Tuesday to approve his $6.4 billion bond measure, dubbed 鈥淭reatment not Tents鈥 鈥 the […]
The Supreme Court Confronts a Public Health Challenge: Homeless Encampments
Homelessness is a soaring public health crisis, with a record 653,000 unhoused people in the United States, according to federal estimates. Tent and recreational vehicle encampments have exploded in recent years, crowding streets and sidewalks from Portland, Ore., to New York. In California, where roughly a third of all the nation鈥檚 homeless people live, doctors […]
California Gov. Newsom Wants Voters to Approve Billions More to Help the Homeless. Will It Help?
A March 5 ballot initiative seeks $6.4 billion to build thousands of new housing units and provide mental health treatment for homeless people 鈥 on top of the billions already being spent to address the public health crisis. Despite significant support from health and law enforcement officials, many front-line workers are skeptical that more money is the answer.
驴Ofrecer vivienda gratis es atenci贸n m茅dica? Programas de Medicaid dicen que s铆
Estados est谩n invirtiendo miles de millones de d贸lares en un experimento de atenci贸n m茅dica de alto riesgo: utilizar fondos ya escasos de seguros de salud p煤blicos para proporcionar vivienda a los estadounidenses m谩s pobres y enfermos.
Is Housing Health Care? State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Say 鈥榊es鈥
States are using their Medicaid programs to offer poor and sick people housing services, such as paying six months鈥 rent or helping hunt for apartments. The trend comes in response to a growing homelessness epidemic, but experts caution this may not be the best use of limited health care money.
California鈥檚 Ambitious Medicaid Experiment Gets Tripped Up in Implementation
The health care insurers, nonprofit organizations, and other groups responsible for implementing Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 ambitious plan to infuse Medicaid with social services say their ability to serve vulnerable, low-income Californians is hamstrung.
DeSantis, Newsom to Tangle Over Hot-Button Health Issues
Florida鈥檚 Republican presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis,and Democratic firebrand Gavin Newsom of California square off today in a contest of governors that can best be described as the debate to determine 驴qui茅n es m谩s macho? 鈥 who is more manly 鈥 about protecting your freedoms. Both men have led their respective states since 2019, and they鈥檝e […]
