California governor: ‘Doctors should be able to write prescriptions for housing’
by Madison Dibble
Washington Examiner
February 21, 2020
Doctors may start prescribing homes to sick patients as part of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan for a holistic solution to healthcare and homelessness.
In a series of tweets on Friday, the Democrat argued healthcare and homelessness are not separate problems. He suggested doctors should be able to prescribe a place to stay if they are treating a mentally ill person who does not have stable housing.
“Doctors should be able to write prescriptions for housing the same way they do for insulin or antibiotics,” Newsom said. “We need to start targeting social determinants of health. We need to start treating brain health like we do physical health. What’s more fundamental to a person’s well being than a roof over their head?”
He continued, “10 million Californians—1 in 4—suffer from some type of behavioral health condition. It’s not a narrow issue. It’s not a new issue. Physical health and brain health are inextricably linked. And our healthcare system has been designed to treat only one of those.”
Newsom’s tweets reiterated a point he made during his State of the State address on Wednesday. He explained that California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal, an agency working to revamp the state’s healthcare program Medi-Cal, asked the state’s legislature for $695 million to invest in a holistic healthcare program that includes housing for mentally ill patients.
“The deeper truth is that our healthcare system has been designed to treat some of our parts, not the sum of our parts. That must change,” Newsom said. “This landmark proposal calls for leveraging Medi-Cal as a tool to help California’s most vulnerable residents: the homeless, our children, and people cycling in and out of the criminal justice system.”
He continued, “This is about integrating care. Targeting social determinants of health and expanding our Whole Person Care pilots statewide.”
Newsom listed homelessness as his No. 1 priority during the state of the state address. The homelessness crisis has been weighing down the state’s hospital system.
The city of San Francisco recently announced a program that will provide tents for homeless people experiencing psychosis due to the use of methamphetamines. In 2017, nearly half of all psychiatric patients in San Francisco General Hospital were in on meth-related issues. The city hoped that the tent program would free up hospital space for other people needing psychiatric care.
Newsom’s funding for housing for mentally ill people is part of his $222 billion budget proposal for the state.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually, it’s a well-meaning proposal. But who will accept such prescriptions? And where are the doctors going to find housing for the homeless … in a four-star hotel? Then who is going to pay for the hotel room?
No comments:
Post a Comment