The Link Between Affordable Housing And Healthcare

Columbia, MD—In this technology-driven age, where one is now able to access a medical diagnosis through an app and monitor their workouts through a wristwatch, options for affordable housing are dwindling while rates of homelessness rise. According to a national survey on the link between homes and health from Enterprise Community Partners Inc., more than half of renters surveyed have delayed care because they couldn’t afford it and 100% of medical professionals surveyed have had some of their patients express concerns about affordable housing.

The survey, the first to examine renters’ ability to afford health care and medical professionals’ perception of those challenges, reveals renters who are paying a high percentage of their income for housing are regularly making difficult tradeoffs between rent and health care.

“No one should have to choose between paying rent and paying for health care,” says Laurel Blatchford, president, Enterprise Community Partners. “And yet, thousands of people make that difficult trade off every day. That’s wrong. By working closely with health care organizations, we’re creating ways for renters to afford the health care they need.”

Enterprise works towards integrating health services into housing as they believe it takes yet another step towards improving health.

Housing with integrated services can take on a number of forms, but the basic idea is connecting home, where people live, with health care services, either onsite or in the community. More and more research is demonstrating that preventive care coupled with stable housing improves people’s health, reduces urgent care visits and saves people, taxpayers and health care organizations money. For example, our “Health in Housing” study shows that residents who moved into affordable housing had lower Medicaid and Medicare costs, Blatchford tells GlobeSt.com.

“If we want healthier people and lower health care costs, then we need to increase collaboration between the health and housing sectors to create and preserve equitable, resilient and sustainable affordable homes connected to health care people can afford.”

Enterprise recently introduced their $250 million national initiative, Health Begins with Home, which over a period of five years promotes health as a top priority in the development of affordable homes and elevates homes as an essential tool for improving resident and community health. The initiative will support partnerships and programs across their 11 main markets and provide the experience, expertise and resources necessary to expand successful local programs across the country.

“We have partnered with Kaiser Permanente to form an $85 million Housing for Health Fund in the Bay Area as well as a separate $100 million loan fund that will develop and preserve affordable homes across the country. Our work in the revitalization of West Baltimore with Bon Secours Baltimore Health System resulted in the creation of 800 affordable homes, and our partnership with the Catholic Health Association created a new resource to guide tax exempt hospitals on housing-related activities that they can report as a community benefit to the IRS. We have also developed the Social Impact Bond Initiative with the city of Denver to help at least 250 chronically homeless individuals struggling with mental health and substance abuse challenges,” says Blatchford.

Enterprise believes that by supporting research that makes the case for how housing can improve people’s lives and communities, and by piloting programs and providing investment resources, they are, in essence, equipping the health sector, insurance companies and hospitals with knowledge they can use to integrate and improve their systems and make investments that improve their patients’ health where it all begins—at home.

One of their main goals is to change the way the health and housing sectors operate so every neighborhood can benefit from housing and health systems working together “which will lead to healthier people and communities.”

As for the U.S.’s knowledge of the affordable housing crisis? “There is better awareness of the problem today than in recent years, which is a good first step, But we have a long way to go,” observes Blatchford.

Nationwide, a minimum wage worker has to work 90 hours per week in order to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. As of 2018, 11 million households pay more than half of their monthly income on rent, leaving little for other expenses like health care, transportation and nutritious food. Enterprise’s national survey found that 83% of renters who spent more than half of their monthly income on rent said they prioritize paying rent before anything else, including needed medical treatments.

“Ultimately, no one should have to choose between paying rent and paying for health care. Yet, millions of people make that difficult tradeoff every day. By working closely with health care organizations, we’re creating ways for renters to afford the care they need,” says Blatchford.