A unit of Centene, the nation’s largest Medicaid insurer, has pledged to help build nearly $1 billion in affordable housing in eight states as it seeks to address one of the most important determinants of health.
Speaking at LuckAt Monday’s Brainstorm Health conference, Centene CEO Sarah London said the Centene Foundation has entered into a multi-year partnership with affordable housing developer McCormack Baron Salazar to provide loans for below-market housing.
The partnership will unlock $900 million in development funds and create thousands of housing units, London said. The issue of affordable housing is especially important to Centene members, London added.
“It’s about doing a lot with little effort, doing something that our members are particularly good at, and I think that reflects our mission to transform not only healthcare, but to transform the health of the communities we serving,” London said.
This is a reflection of the fact that in America’s socially and economically stratified society, the health care system is only a small factor influencing health outcomes. These inequalities are evident in everything from the uneven impact of the coronavirus pandemic to 15-year gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest Americans.
“We know that 80% of what affects health is not medical. Eighty percent,” Dr. Michelle Gourdin, senior vice president of CVS Health, said earlier at the conference. “We could have the best doctors in the universe and it would only solve 20% of the problem.”
In recent years, the public health community has focused its attention in particular on the impact of housing development as costs have risen sharply and evidence of the devastating impacts of housing development has grown. housing instability. Last week UnitedHealth Group announced that affordable housing has surpassed $1 billion over the past decade. In 2022, Kaiser Permanente will also promised $400 million for economic development and housing.
For the one in four Americans enrolled in Medicaid, gaining access to affordable housing is especially important, and the U.S. was short of 7.3 million affordable homes in 2023, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Much of what affects health is non-medical, London and others said Monday. London added that across demographic groups, people recognize some things that are important to health, including housing, food and access to child care.
“We’re certainly making sure there’s access to health care, but we’re also thinking about what are the other factors that influence health outcomes,” London said.