Homelessness has a complex and reciprocal relationship with health. Poor health contributes to the risk of experiencing homelessness, and homelessness can contribute to the onset of new—or exacerbate existing—medical conditions, leading to high rates of emergency medical service use, hospitalizations, and mortality. In this report, we compare health service utilization patterns of Apple Health clients who became homeless in 2022 (“newly homeless”) to housed clients and individuals who experienced homelessness both before and during 2022 (“previously homeless”). Clients who experienced homelessness had higher rates of physical and behavioral health conditions and accessed health services more frequently than housed clients. Health service use for newly homeless clients increased around the time they became homeless before declining and stabilizing at higher levels than the 2 years before they became homeless.
