Colorado seeks federal waiver to use Medicaid to help those who are homeless and hungry
Colorado could become the latest state to use Medicaid -- government funded health insurance -- for expenses other than health care.
The Biden administration recently began approving waivers that allow Medicaid dollars to be used for nutrition and housing assistance, and Colorado is among a growing number of states seeking a waiver.
Healthier Colorado CEO Jake Williams says where you live and what you eat impact your health.
"Having access to health insurance is important, but many other factors impact our ability to be healthy. How we live our lives when we're outside the doctor's office, including having a safe and affordable place to call home, as well as our access to healthy food, are significant predictors of both positive and negative health outcomes," Williams said.
The waiver would help provide more funding for organizations like Project Angel Heart. Every week, some 300 volunteers at the nonprofit prepare and deliver more than 770,000 meals for nearly 5,000 Coloradans with chronic health problems.
"A lot of our clients are living with diagnoses of cancer and heart failure and COPD, things where the nutrition they receive really plays an important role," said Nic Soucy, Government Affairs Director for Project Angel Heart.
She says dieticians medically tailor each meal to the client's needs. All of the meals are prepared, packaged, and delivered for free, thanks in large part to donations. The program not only saves clients' money, but the health care system. Research shows giving people access to medically tailored meals can save millions of dollars in fewer hospital re-admissions.
A new law -- sponsored by state Sen. Robert Rodriguez and state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer and state Rep. Kyle Brown and state Rep. Shannon Bird -- could help more people access not only healthy meals but housing as well. It directs the Colorado Office of Healthcare Policy and Financing to apply for a waiver that allows Medicaid to be used for nutrition and housing assistance. The Department will conduct a study to determine exactly what type of housing assistance Medicaid will cover.
"Not only does it help us to draw down additional federal dollars, but it helps us to leverage existing state dollars to use as match so that we can get credit for the work that we're essentially already doing and amplify that and magnify it going forward," said Brown.
Nearly 20 states have already received a waiver and Colorado could join them next year.
Soucy says it would allow Project Angel Heart to help even more Coloradans in need.
"This is going to help people stay out the hospital, it's going to keep them at home, and that will save taxpayers money," Soucy said.