Category: homeless

Tossed Medicine, Delayed Housing: How Homeless Sweeps Are Thwarting Medicaid’s 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’s health and get them off the streets.

A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — 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.

Funding Instability Plagues Program That Brings Docs to Underserved Areas

A medical residency program designed to train future primary care physicians in outpatient rather than hospital settings has proved an effective means to bring doctors to rural and underserved areas. But it hinges on unpredictable congressional funding.

San Francisco Tries Tough Love by Tying Welfare to Drug Rehab

Facing an overdose epidemic and public fury over conditions on the streets, famously tolerant San Francisco will start requiring welfare recipients to undergo drug screening, and treatment if necessary, to receive cash public assistance.

Unsheltered People Are Losing Medicaid in Redetermination Mix-Ups

Some of the nearly 130,000 Montanans who have lost Medicaid coverage as the state reevaluates eligibility are homeless. That’s in part because Montana kicked more than 80,000 people off the program for technical reasons rather than because of income ineligibility. For unhoused people who were disenrolled, getting back on Medicaid can be extraordinarily difficult.

Social Security Chief Testifies in Senate About Plans to Stop ‘Clawback Cruelty’

Commissioner Martin O’Malley testifies to two Senate panels that his agency will stop the “injustices” of suspending people’s monthly benefits to recover alleged overpayments. The burden will be on the Social Security Administration to prove the beneficiary was to blame.

Exclusive: Social Security Chief Vows to Fix ‘Cruel-Hearted’ Overpayment Clawbacks

New Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley is promising to change how the agency reclaims billions of dollars it wrongly pays to beneficiaries, saying the existing process is “cruel-hearted and mindless.”

California Voters Are Skeptical That More Money Is the Answer to Homelessness

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 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’s homelessness initiatives.

Readers Call on Congress to Bolster Medicare and Fix Loopholes in Health Policy

KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.