One of the greatest topics in today’s society has been the health care reform. The need for health care is one that every American will face at some point in their life. However, one of the biggest groups in need of attention in the health care debate is the homeless population. In an article in The Tennessean, it states “Advocates for the homeless say these individuals face complex health problems, are generally sicker and die earlier than their housed counterparts. Advocates also say the homeless are the most frequent and expensive users of emergency room and inpatient hospital care and are much less likely than those in the general population to be insured.”
Those lobbying for health care reform are recognizing the need for an address of homelessness as a serious health care issue and failing to do so will result in a high cost of hospitalization by those facing illness. Maintenance of health is a very difficult thing for the homeless. For one, they are not a group of people that live in the most sanitary conditions, nor are the medical supplies they may have access to always the most cleanly. Nutrition is also an issue for this population. For many, finding food on a daily basis is difficult, and for those who do find meals, it may not be of the highest nutritional quality. By increasing the access the homeless population has to health care, it will increase their overall health and thus reduce the number of homeless people utilizing emergency room care, becoming inpatients in a hospital, or those dying due to a serious medical condition acquired while living on the street.
While it may seem like an expensive reform, it will be greatly worth it in the end. Making the necessary changes to provide more access to health care facilities and sanitary environments will reduce the number of diseases acquired from living on the streets, could work to provide counseling in health care maintenance, and reduce the amount of time these uninsured homeless people spend in hospitals and other clinics.
A full link to this article can be found at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091011/NEWS01/91011009/1001/NEWS/Homeless+often+overlooked+in+health-care+reform+debate
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You bring up extremely good points. The homeless can prove to be the most difficult of the population to deal with in regards to health care. Keeping track of the homeless to advocate prevention over treatment will becoming near impossible. Policy makers have to adjust for this uncared for population.
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