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# Homeless hospital stays may no longer tax system
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/homeless-hospital-stays-may-no-longer-tax-system/
- Published: 2005-10-26T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T08:02:03.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Health, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*Houston study revealed city’s patterns of homeless spending*

SANTA MONICA AIRPORT — Millions of dollars believed to be wasted each year on hospital stays for homeless individuals might soon be put to better use serving the down and out after a study that officials hope to sponsor is complete.

Elected leaders from the Westside Council of Governments on Tuesday met at Santa Monica Airport to discuss the possibility of commissioning a study through the Rand Corp., which would determine how much money spent on emergency and other social services may be better used addressing the needs of the region’s homeless population if they were provided an opportunity for housing and appropriate treatment.

Officials heard from Catherine Jackson, a health economics expert from the Rand Corp. who conducted a similar study in 1996 for the city of Houston. In that study, 802 homeless individuals were surveyed for 90 minutes. They agreed to relinquish their health and criminal records, which Rand tracked through various agencies to determine how much money had been spent on them.

“The study showed that health care providers had a big burden in treating individuals that are homeless, and I think that’s still true,” Jackson said.

The study showed that 26 percent of those surveyed suffered from severe mental illness, while 45 percent were addicted to alcohol and drugs. A smaller segment, 14 percent, suffered both from mental illness and drug abuse.

Although the study showed that an average of $3,800 per homeless person was spent on emergency and other social services, a significant portion of the unhoused population was much more of a drain on the health and criminal justice systems than others.

Although 30 percent of Houston’s homeless population managed to incur no costs to the local social service system, 15 percent of Houston’s homeless population managed to absorb 63 percent of the costs, and 6.5 percent of them incurred 43 percent of the costs.

At the same time, 55 percent of the costs of the “high utilizers” of the social service system were directly related to expensive hospital stays. Meanwhile, only a much smaller fraction of them — less than 10 percent — was successfully being referred to long-term substance abuse or mental health treatment facilities.

The point, Jackson said, was that the “patchwork” of service groups intended to help Houston’s homeless problems in reality did little to successfully address their individual problems. Meanwhile, the “high utilizers” continued to consume a vast majority of the costs related to the social service system.

Jackson said if Santa Monica and other Westside cities were to conduct a similar study, it would enable federal, state and local governments and other agencies to do a better job funneling money into services.

“Is it that the homeless person was kicked out of his apartment and couldn’t find a place where he could pay $200 a month for rent until he got on his feet, or is the homeless person mentally ill and simply can’t get a job?” Jackson said. “These are different types of people who may need separate funding sources to address their needs.”

Kate Vernez, City Hall’s government relations coordinator, said Santa Monica has a history of being on the forefront of homeless issues. One purpose of the proposed study would be to ascertain how money flows regionally to support homeless services and how the funding sources may be tweaked so all local government groups are paying their share to combat the problem.

Westside officials are expected to discuss sponsoring a study for the region in coming months.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority — a nonprofit organization responsible for addressing homeless issues — is expected to release demographic information on the metropolitan area’s homeless population of 91,000 on Nov. 14\. The report will include details about the down and out who live in Westside cities.

That information may be incorporated into the future study which will look at homeless costs, officials said. The county is expected to release an extensive plan to reduce homelessness in February. The city of Santa Monica, in the meantime, is still looking to fill its position of a homeless czar, a person to be charged with bringing regional cohesiveness to social service groups that serve the homeless.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 26, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102605.pdf?ref=smdp.com)