Medical Debt, Credit Card Debt, and Other Financial Debt Among Veterans Who Receive Homeless Assistance in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system is dedicated to preventing veteran homelessness, but there is limited research on the specific sources of financial debt among homeless veterans. We investigated the proportion of veterans seeking VA homeless services reporting any debt an...
| Publicado en: | Inquiry (00469580) Vol. 63; pp. 1 - 10 |
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| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications Inc.
4/10/2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=192937300&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 192937300 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00469580 INQ jtl: Inquiry (00469580) issn: 00469580 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: 4/10/2026 vid: 63 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 192937300 10.1177/00469580261440182 ppf: 1 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Medical Debt, Credit Card Debt, and Other Financial Debt Among Veterans Who Receive Homeless Assistance in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. aug: au: Beydoun, Hind A. Szymkowiak, Dorota Tsai, Jack affil: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Homeless Programs Office, Washington, DC, USA University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, TX, USA Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA su: Research funding T-test (Statistics) Scholarships Debt Sex distribution Logistic regression analysis Social services Questionnaires Help-seeking behavior Descriptive statistics Chi-squared test Multivariate analysis Psychology of veterans Odds ratio Taxation Government programs Statistics Financial management Homelessness Quality assurance Confidence intervals Medical care costs United States sug: subj: United States Research funding T-test (Statistics) Scholarships Debt Sex distribution Logistic regression analysis Social services Questionnaires Help-seeking behavior Descriptive statistics Chi-squared test Multivariate analysis Psychology of veterans Odds ratio Taxation Government programs Statistics Financial management Homelessness Quality assurance Confidence intervals Medical care costs keyword: assessment financial debt healthcare system homelessness veterans ab: The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system is dedicated to preventing veteran homelessness, but there is limited research on the specific sources of financial debt among homeless veterans. We investigated the proportion of veterans seeking VA homeless services reporting any debt and specific types of outstanding debt, associations between homelessness experiences and debt, and whether these associations vary by sex. Using VA administrative data, we cross-sectionally evaluated various types of outstanding debt among 118 594 homeless and at-risk veterans in the VA healthcare system from fiscal years 2023–2024. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed for history of homelessness experiences in relation to any and different types of financial debt, overall, and by sex. About 48% of veterans in VA homeless programs had outstanding debt, with credit cards being the most prevalent contributors to debt. Outstanding debt related to student loans, child support, medical expenses, and tax bills were significantly associated with greater episodes of recent homelessness. Medical expenses, fines, or other legal obligations were significantly associated with lifetime homelessness duration. Housing loans were associated with shorter duration and fewer episodes of homelessness (over the past 3 years). Similar patterns were observed among male and female veterans. Financial debt is linked to prolonged homelessness among veterans, necessitating increased social services for financial literacy, debt consolidation, and other interventions to mitigate risks. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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