Orange County hopes to get homeless residents into housing – and help them stay there. Riverside County plans to connect former inmates with health clinics and social services. Placer County is opening a respite center where homeless patients can go after they leave the hospital.
Those are just some of the pilot projects in a $3 billion experimental effort officials hope will improve the health of California’s most vulnerable populations. The effort is a recognition that improving people’s health will take more than just getting them insured.
The state has approved plans in 18 counties intended to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital stays among these groups. In addition to ex-prisoners and the homeless, they include people who have multiple chronic illnesses, substance abuse problems and mental health disorders. The state is accepting a second round of applications for such projects next year.
The effort, known as “whole person care,” is part of an agreement between California and the federal government. It gives the state flexibility to try to improve the efficiency and quality of care in the state’s Medicaid program – known as Medi-Cal – which provides health coverage to low-income people.
The projects are designed to blend physical care, mental health care and social services for the participants, who are among the neediest and costliest in the state.
Half the funding for the program comes from the federal government, and the other half will be provided by local entities, including counties and hospital systems.
In Orange County, officials are linking homeless residents to primary care providers and helping them find places to live.
“If we are able to get them stabilized and into stable housing … we can improve their overall health,” said Melissa Tober, manager of strategic projects for the Orange County Health Care Agency.
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