CMS approves Arizona’s Medicaid project to target social needs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last week approved a demonstration program for five years allowing Arizona to test approaches to help eligible Medicaid enrollees maintain stable housing. Under the demonstration, Arizona will offer services to help more people become and remain stably housed and provide support for community and transitional housing for those with unique clinical needs or transitioning out of institutional care. The program will offer rent and temporary housing for up to six months for individuals transitioning out of homeless shelters and the child welfare system, as well as case management, outreach and education. CMS approved similar projects in Oregon and Massachusetts to see whether interventions targeting critical drivers of health outcomes improve Medicaid beneficiaries’ use of needed health care, and increase the likelihood they will keep receiving and benefitting from the services to which they are entitled. (CMS news release, 10/14/22)