Thread by @CenterOnBudget

We will be livetweeting @PeggyBaileyDC, @hannahkatch , & Jenny Sullivan on the health's sector role in #housing starting in just a few minutes. Follow along with #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch We'll be starting with @PeggyBaileyDC: "We started to coalesce around the fact that zip codes determine health... It means that I didn't have control over the fact that I've lived to 47 years old & that's not fair. We don't recognize that luck enough." #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch There's a role in health care advocates in calling for improving people's health. -- @PeggyBaileyDC

#ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch What's the main problem? #Housing isn't an equal partner in this relationship. Housing is not an entitlement -- we have to fight every year just to stay even & that's where we've been. @PeggyBaileyDC #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch Three out of four people who need #housing assistance can't get it. If that was the same for health care there would be riots in the streets. And housing isn't going to fix itself -- incomes haven't caught up to housing costs. #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch Partnerships can lead to improvements. We can improve access to treatment, create access to public health services, deliver home-based care, reduce housing/neighborhood environmental hazards -- but we can't do this w/o a major expansion in rental assistance. #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch We're now hearing from @hannahkatch who will address this conversation from the health care side. #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch Economic stability, neighborhood & physical environment, education, food, & the health care system can all affect a person's health.
#ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch And, while this sounds obvious, #Medicaid can also affect someone's health: if all states had expanded Medicaid, it would have saved as many lives as seat belts have. (cbpp.org/research/healt…)

#ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch You can't cap #Medicaid or take money away from the program and spend it elsewhere, without harming people.

But it can't solve the housing crisis on its own. #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch #Medicaid is explicitly prohibited from paying for "room and board" by federal law. Medicaid can't fill the vast funding gaps for #housing & social services. #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch The health care system isn't equipped to run affordable housing programs. #Medicaid doesn't have the capacity or expertise to manage #housing programs. #ConnectingTheDots

@PeggyBaileyDC @hannahkatch The health care system isn't perfect. It should prioritize working to improve health care access. Using #Medicaid to full funding gaps in other sectors would erode Medicaid's core mission. #ConnectingTheDots