Cardinal, UHC Highlight Ways to Expand Housing Breaks for Medicaid Members

From RADAR on Medicare Advantage

As housing becomes an increasingly critical piece of insurers' integrated, patient-centered care strategies, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare and UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare  Community & State have been using housing to drive member engagement and health outcomes.

Cardinal Innovations, which operates a behavioral health carve-out plan in North Carolina, receives grants from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to fund its housing programs. It reported that the early results from those initiatives were "staggering," with per-member per-month costs for both crisis events and behavioral health-related non-emergent services dropping by 30% once members were in a housing program.

The plan last year launched the Transitions to Community Living (TCL) program with a focus on integrating individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) and severe persistent mental illness (SPMI) into their communities. The program's "in-reach specialists" engage with eligible members to determine their interest in moving into the community. Care coordinators also visit members on at least a monthly basis to identify events that may indicate a member is experiencing crisis.

Currently, Cardinal Innovations has about 440 members in housing, 120 who have committed to the program but aren't transitioned yet and another 45 who are in transition.

UnitedHealthcare Community & State also sought to expand housing opportunities for its Medicaid members over the last few years. The insurer is exploring a health equity fund and looking at "pay for success" models that would be based on metrics relating to housing stability and reductions in  incarceration rates.

UnitedHealthcare also is considering creating partnerships between managed Medicaid plans and public housing agencies. On a local level, the insurer is working with states where it has Medicaid members on submitting tenancy support waivers for CMS approval and exploring ways to connect with the child welfare and criminal justice system to address housing barriers.

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