These efforts could provide insights to the Minnesota Legislature in 2025. The report with recommendations for a road map is due to the Legislature in March.

Medicaid waivers are increasingly being used around the country to support housing-related services that help individuals and families stabilize and sustain their housing as the most critical social determinant of health. Currently, 19 other states have been approved for health-related social needs (HRSN) waivers, allowing them to expand the use of Medicaid resources to provide housing-related services. Four of those (Arizona, New York, Oregon and Washington) have approval to use Medicaid to pay for up to six months of rent/temporary housing and utility costs while individuals are transitioning from homelessness to housing stability. Medicaid spending on housing stability is a wise investment for health care systems at a time when Minnesotans need housing the most. More committed investment from Medicaid and the health care industry in the housing industry can keep other systems from absorbing the rising costs related to homelessness, encampments, policing, prisons and the courts.