In Los Angeles, a collaboration between a public agency and a private health insurance provider aims to establish a network of street doctors and clinics to offer medical care to the city’s homeless population, including regular preventive healthcare services, officials revealed on Wednesday.
Dr. Sameer Amin, the chief medical officer of L.A. Care Health Plan, which provides health insurance for low-income individuals in Los Angeles County, highlighted the objective of ensuring homeless residents have consistent access to primary care physicians, rather than relying on sporadic visits from resource-limited street medicine teams that struggle with follow-up appointments and prescription fulfillment.
Both L.A. Care Health Plan and Health Net, a U.S. health insurance provider, have committed $90 million over five years from state funds to support this initiative.
Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, is home to over 10% of all homeless individuals in the United States, based on a federal count conducted in 2023.
In the city of Los Angeles alone, more than 45,000 individuals reside in encampments, many grappling with severe mental health disorders, substance dependencies, or both, amid littered surroundings and rows of deteriorating RVs. The homelessness crisis has led to a rise in drug overdose fatalities, particularly from the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The effort targets serving up to 85,000 homeless people, with $60 million allocated to enhance field medicine services countywide and the remainder designated to bolster healthcare provisions on Skid Row, a well-known area in downtown Los Angeles characterized by sprawling homeless encampments. This endeavor encompasses establishing a new health campus slated to open in 2025, offering extended hours for specialized and urgent care services.
Healthcare providers are optimistic about the initiative’s potential to expand cardiology, orthopedic, and other specialized care services for individuals on Skid Row. Plans are underway to introduce free shuttles to transport patients to facilities, recognizing transportation as a critical obstacle to accessing care.
The funding originates from California’s Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program, of which $1 billion was at risk of being withheld by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 from cities and counties due to inadequate homelessness reduction strategies. L.A. Care is contributing 70% of the financial support for the project.
