States are spending billions of dollars on high-stakes medical experiments that use scarce public health insurance money to house the poorest and sickest Americans.
Last year, homelessness increased by 12% in the United States; Estimated 653,104 people Americans at the highest level in history. At least 19 states are redirecting funding from Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income people, to address the crisis, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
California is the largest, spending $12 billion on Medicaid initiatives to help people, mostly homeless, find housing, pay for it and avoid eviction. Arizona has allocated $550 million in Medicaid funds to cover six months’ worth of rent, primarily for homeless people. Oregon spends more than $1 billion on services such as emergency rental assistance for patients facing homelessness.
