Prognosis
Program That Pays Big Insurers Billions Funneled to Homeless Care
Going to tent encampments and under bridges to bring medicine and care where 52,000 people spend their nights
Photographer: Michael Short/Bloomberg
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A California organization is using a program that pays billions of dollars to for-profit health insurers to provide care for the growing numbers of older Americans living on the streets.
Healthcare in Action, a new nonprofit medical group, plans to marry elements of charitable “street medicine” clinics with Medicare Advantage plans used by insurance giants like UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. Those plans collect monthly government payments in exchange for assuming financial responsibility for elderly patients’ medical care.