Medicaid Waivers and Tenancy Supports for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness: Implementation Challenges in Four States (original) (raw)

Technically Accessible, Practically Ineligible: The Effects of Medicaid Expansion Implementation on Chronic Homelessness

Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law

Context: Homeless policy advocates viewed Medicaid expansion as an opportunity to enhance health care access for this vulnerable population. We studied Medicaid expansion implementation to assess the extent to which broadening insurance eligibility affected the functioning of municipal homelessness programs targeting chronic homelessness in the context of two separate governance systems. Methods: We employed a comparative case study of San Francisco, California, and Shreveport, Louisiana, which were selected as exemplar cases from a national sample of cities across the United States. We conducted elite interviews with a range of local-level stakeholders and combined this data with primary-source documentation. Findings: Medicaid expansion did not substantially enhance the functioning of homelessness programs and policies because of Medicaid access challenges and governance conflicts. Administrative burden and funding limitations contributed to limited provider networks, inadequate s...

Impact of a New York City supportive housing program on Medicaid expenditure patterns among people with serious mental illness and chronic homelessness

BMC health services research, 2018

A rapid increase of Medicaid expenditures has been a serious concern, and housing stability has been discussed as a means to reduce Medicaid costs. A program evaluation of a New York City supportive housing program has assessed the association between supportive housing tenancy and Medicaid savings among New York City housing program applicants with serious mental illness and chronic homelessness or dual diagnoses of mental illness and substance use disorder, stratified by distinctive Medicaid expenditure patterns. The evaluation used matched data from administrative records for 2827 people. Sequence analysis identified 6 Medicaid expenditure patterns during 2 years prior to baseline among people placed in the program (n = 737) and people eligible but not placed (n = 2090), including very low Medicaid coverage, increasing Medicaid expenditure, low, middle, high, and very high Medicaid expenditure patterns. We assessed the impact of the program on Medicaid costs for 2 years post-base...

Bundling Justice: Medicaid's Support for Housing

The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics

Should Medicaid pay for supportive housing for homeless persons? After describing current limits on how states can use Medicaid funds to support housing, this article considers whether justice requires treating Medicaid recipients residing in nursing homes and Medicaid recipients needing supportive housing similarly.

Homelessness, Health Status, and Health Care Use

American Journal of Public Health, 2007

Objectives. Little is known about the health status of those who are newly homeless. We sought to describe the health status and health care use of new clients of homeless shelters and observe changes in these health indicators over the study period. Methods. We conducted a longitudinal study of 445 individuals from their entry into the homeless shelter system through the subsequent 18 months. Results. Disease was prevalent in the newly homeless. This population accessed health care services at high rates in the year before becoming homeless. Significant improvements in health status were seen over the study period as well as a significant increase in the number who were insured. Conclusion. Newly homeless persons struggle under the combined burdens of residential instability and significant levels of physical disease and mental illness, but many experience some improvements in their health status and access to care during their time in the homeless shelter system.

Homelessness and Medicaid Churn

Ethnicity & Disease, 2021

Objectives: To identify ICD-10-CM di­agnostic codes associated with the social de­terminants of health (SDOH), determine fre­quency of use of the code for homelessness across time, and examine the frequency of interrupted periods of Medicaid eligibility (ie, Medicaid churn) for beneficiaries with and without this code.Design: Retrospective data analyses of New York State (NYS) Medicaid claims data for years 2006-2017 to determine reliable indicators of SDOH hypothesized to affect Medicaid churn, and for years 2016-2017 to examine frequency of Medicaid churn among patients with and without an indica­tor for homelessness.Methods: Analyses were conducted to assess the frequency of use and pattern of New York State Medicaid claims submission for SDOH codes. Analyses were conducted for Medicaid claims submitted for years 2016-2017 for Medicaid patients with and without a homeless code (ie, ICD-10-CM Z59.0) in 2017.Main Outcome Measures: Any interrup­tion in the eligibility for Medicaid i...