Over the last five years, 5.7 million different people in the United States have been homeless for some length of time. 1.2 million American families on waiting lists for subsidized housing are at particular risk of homelessness today. Any crisis could cause them to lose their precarious housing and wind up on the streets. Like 40 million other Americans, homeless people typically do not have health insurance. The federal Medicaid program has provided coverage for many homeless women and children and some disabled men, but proposed and recently enacted Medicaid policy changes are causing loss of health coverage for many people without homes.
Homeless people are particular victims of certain diseases.
Approximately one-third have mental illnesses. Perhaps one-half have a current or past drug or alcohol addiction. Infections of every sort are prominent among homeless people. Trauma resulting from violence and conditions caused by exposure to the elements are common among homeless people. Homeless people also have all the same health problems as people with homes, but at elevated rates.