Barriers to Homeless Persons Acquiring Health Insurance Through the Affordable Care Act.
BACKGROUND
Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is intended to provide a framework for increasing health care access for vulnerable populations, including the 1.2 million who experience homelessness each year in the United States.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to characterize homeless persons' knowledge of the ACA, identify barriers to their ACA enrollment, and determine access to various forms of communication that could be used to facilitate enrollment.


METHODS
At an urban county Level I trauma center, we interviewed all noncritically ill adults who presented to the emergency department (ED) during daytime hours and were able to provide consent. We assessed access to communication, awareness of the ACA, insurance status, and barriers preventing subjects from enrolling in health insurance and compared homeless persons' responses with concomitantly enrolled housed individuals.


RESULTS
Of the 650 enrolled subjects, 134 (20.2%) were homeless. Homeless subjects were more likely to have never heard of the ACA (26% vs. 10%). "Not being aware if they qualify for Medicaid" was the most common (70%) and most significant (30%) barrier to enrollment reported by uninsured homeless persons. Of homeless subjects who were unsure if they qualified for Medicaid, 91% reported an income < 138% of the federal poverty level, likely qualifying them for enrollment. Although 99% of housed subjects reported access to either phone or internet, only 74% of homeless subjects reported access.


CONCLUSIONS
Homeless persons report having less knowledge of the ACA than their housed counterparts, poor understanding of ACA qualification criteria, and limited access to phone and internet. ED-based outreach and education regarding ACA eligibility may increase their enrollment.
University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.
Lauren R
LR
Fryling
Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia.
Peter
P
Mazanec
Department of Emergency Medicine, The University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Robert M
RM
Rodriguez
D022126:Access to Information; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008875:Middle Aged; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D014481:United States
ACA; Affordable Care Act; Medicare; access to care; emergency department; emergency medicine; health disparities; health insurance; health policy; health systems; homeless; managed care; underinsured; uninsured; utilization