Emergency Department Visits by Homeless Status and Sex: United States, 2016–2021 by Susan M. Schappert, M.A., and Loredana Santo, M.D., M.P.H.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr204.pdf?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-83hVHp6EWHoqAxhIS8vzEyi04j-GUsRE6xqsK27TnCiSN10M7HcfgToz29Qr7UN1CdVEPv8De3L20nfMQu8J1qs8_hOA&_hsmi=310992891&utm_content=310992891&utm_source=hs_email New national data on emergency visits among homeless patients CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released a new report today on visits to emergency departments, and how they compare between unhoused people and others across the U.S. Each year between 2016 and 2021, about 1.4 million unhoused people visited the ED, with women accounting for about a third of visits. Here are some quick takeaways from the report: Unhoused people who went to the ED were mostly middle-aged, between the ages of 26 and 64. Housed ED visitors, on the other hand, were typically either older or younger. More unhoused people arrive at the hospital by ambulance (about 42%) compared to others (16%). For more than half of unhoused people in the ED, Medicaid was the primary payer for care; less than 5% had private insurance. Medicaid was still the top source of payment for others at 34%, but 25% had private insurance.