The Economic Roundtable, 2013
Getting Home evaluates the health and cost outcomes of tenants at the 10th Decile Project, a supportive housing program for high-cost homeless hospital patients in Los Angeles. The report looks at the health records of tenants both before and after their entrance into housing. Only the homeless individuals with the highest public and hospital costs are eligible for the 10th Decile Project. From April 2011 to May 2013, the program screened 163 patients, enrolled 89 of them and placed 36 into supportive housing. Among their key findings, the authors find that the formerly homeless individuals in housing decreased their public and hospital costs from $63,808 when homeless to $16,913 when housed. The total healthcare costs for these individuals also dropped 72 percent – from $58,962 to $16,747 per person. The report concludes that for every dollar spent on this supportive housing program, public and hospital costs related to these individuals are reduced by $2 in the first year and $6 in subsequent years. Getting Home was written by Daniel Flaming and Patrick Burns of The Economic Roundtable, Susan Lee of CSH and Gerald Sumner.
Research category: Cost Savings, Health