A lot of chronic problems from frequent flyers to the ER can be resolved by housing them.
The largest expense for running an ER is dealing with people that use it as a homeless shelter. I have first and second hand knowledge of this.
Weather gets cold? Visit Er. Due to federal regulation, even if a person visits 13 times a day (facility record btw) they can’t be turned away.
Progress needs to be made on both avenues. ERs need the ability to turn expensive frequent fliers away and be absolved of liability, but also shelter programs that are metrics based (job placement, illicit substance abuse, participation in mental health) need private funding.
California funds an enormous prison population, a significant portion of them are non violent or victimless crimes. So that being said, the money is already available.
That’s astonishingly quick to have someone go negative on humanity that fast… and it really reflects on how fucked healthcare is in America… even in a state that’s trying it’s best
While they are administered at lower levels than the State (though significant funding flows through the state, including Medi-Cal funding, for them), there are more than “one or two” publicly-operated clinics in each of California’s major cities.
It turns out that housing is not the solution for the frequent flyers. Hospitalization is. (TLDR: drug addicted and mentally ill residents trashed up many of the Skid Row Housing Trust's units and buildings, rendering them uninhabitable, ultimately leading to the organization's demise.)
That is from 2017 and as far as I can tell, little has truly changed since.
Well what would the alternative be? Letting the poors live right next to the people who matter? They should only be seen when I want my expensive coffee milkshakes, right? </sarcasm>
That sounds like a self-inflicted problem. What I don't understand is why so many stick around rather than finding some place that wants good hard working people and is willing to allow them to actually have a place to live. I know it's not easy to relocate but it can be done and is usually worthwhile in the long run.
Because it's not targeting the chronic homeless, whom are more likely to have begun a cycle of depression, disassociation, and addiction.