Prescription for housing? California wants Medicaid to cover 6 months of rent

Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration is struggling to contain a worsening homelessness crisis despite record spending, is trying something bold: tapping federal healthcare funding to cover rent for homeless people and those at risk of losing their housing.

States are barred from using federal Medicaid dollars to pay directly for rent, but California’s governor is asking the administration of President Biden, a fellow Democrat, to authorize a new program called “transitional rent,” which would provide up to six months of rent or temporary housing for low-income enrollees who rely on the state’s healthcare safety net — a new initiative in his arsenal of programs to fight and prevent homelessness.

“I’ve been talking to the president. We cannot do this alone,” Newsom told KHN.

The governor is pushing California’s version of Medicaid, called Medi-Cal, to fund experimental housing subsidies for homeless people, betting that it’s cheaper for taxpayers to cover rent than to allow people to fall into crisis or costly institutional care in hospitals, nursing homes, and jails. Early in his tenure, Newsom proclaimed that “doctors should be able to write prescriptions for housing the same way they do for insulin or antibiotics.”

“Part of the question is whether this is really Medicaid’s job,” said Vikki Wachino, who served as national Medicaid director in the Obama administration. “But there is a recognition that social factors like inadequate housing are driving health outcomes, and I think the federal government is open to developing approaches to try and address that.” Bruce Alexander, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, declined to say whether the federal government would approve California’s request. Biden’s Medicaid officials have approved similar experimental programs in Oregon and Arizona, and California is modeling its program after them. California is home to an estimated 30% of the homeless people in the U.S., despite representing just 12% of the country’s overall population. And Newsom has acknowledged that the numbers are likely far greater than official homeless tallies show. Top health officials say that, to contain soaring safety-net spending and help homeless people get healthy, Medi-Cal has no choice but to combine social services with housing.

Angela Hart

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-20/prescription-for-housing-california-wants-medicaid-to-cover-6-months-of-rent