Health care for homeless
TheStar.com – comment/editorial – Health care for homeless
September 21, 2007
The homeless among us have the greatest need for health care, yet have the worst access to treatments that could save or improve their lives. That unfairness underscores how homelessness is not simply a matter of lacking shelter. It often means being deprived of basic rights and services, such as health care, that most Ontarians take for granted.
Regrettably, the problem is getting worse, not better.
According to the authors of The Street Health Report 2007, Toronto’s homeless population now has less access to health care than it did 15 years ago. The homeless are four times as likely to be refused treatment, due to lack of a health card, than they were in 1992.
Such findings are outrageous, and they need to change.
Study authors surveyed 368 homeless adults in Toronto last winter and found many faced major health challenges. They were four times as likely than the general population to have cancer; five times as likely to have heart disease; three times as likely to suffer the pain of arthritis; and almost 30 times as likely to be infected with hepatitis C.
The homeless were also far more prone to physical injury. And they suffered disproportionately from mental illness and addiction.
The toll of these health problems could be eased through expanded detox programs; a $10 minimum wage and higher welfare payments, enabling the poor to eat better; and improved housing so people would not live exposed to the elements.
But the homeless often don’t benefit even from medical facilities and programs that have long been in place. A shocking 28 per cent of those surveyed were refused health care over the past year, either at a doctor’s office, a walk-in clinic, or an emergency department because they did not have a health card. More than one-third of respondents said they lacked such a card, mainly due to loss or theft, even though almost all were entitled to one. About the same proportion was without a card in 1992, but only 7 per cent of those surveyed that year reported being refused care. Recent efforts to stop health-care fraud appear to be blocking more homeless people than ever from getting needed care.
Access to Ontario Health Cards must be improved. While some steps have been taken along these lines, they are clearly not enough. New outreach programs must be set up to help the homeless obtain health cards and other essential pieces of identification. No one should be deprived of necessary care because they must live on the street.
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