Population-based payments to deliver health care to unhoused individuals

Population-based payments to deliver health care to unhoused individuals
JAMA Health Forum; Sudhakar V. Nuti, Amanda K. Johnson, Theodore Long; 3/25
The 770,000 people experiencing homelessness in the US have a high prevalence of disease and high health care utilization. Compared to the general population, unhoused individuals in the US have a 3.5 times higher mortality rate and 27-year reduced life expectancy. To this end, we propose population-based payment models (PBPs) as a novel mechanism to provide increased, stable, and predictable funding for health care for unhoused individuals. PBPs are the most advanced category of value-based alternative payment models, where health care organizations are given a prospective payment to care for a population of patients, with the flexibility to tailor care without incentivizes to optimize billable encounters, while being held accountable for improved outcomes and costs. The flexibility in how to invest and earn funding is essential for focused investment in these models, as increased reimbursement alone is insufficient.
Publisher's note: Bolding in post above is ours.