What are we solving?
These are the main issues we are trying to tackle with this preventative care bus
Anaheim's Opioid Crisis
Roughly 30% of homeless people in shelters that were surveyed admitted to abusing drugs. From 2011 To 2015 in Anaheim, there were 782 opioid overdose cases.
Unnecessary Incarceration
Roughly 15% of people incarcerated were homeless previously to incarceration. In California, the average amount it costs to incarcerate someone for one year is $70,812 but will rise to $75,560 through 2018. According to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics over 48.6% of people incarcerated were either on drugs or were involved in some kind of drug crime.
Unnecessary Emergency Room Visits
In 2011 the Kaiser Family foundation conducted a study on homeless people and their medical costs and found that “80% of emergency room visits made by people struggling with homelessness is for an illness that could have been treated with preventative care”. These visits on average cost $18,500 per year per homeless person. On average only 0.3% of homeless people are able to pay this through their own private insurance.