Governor Cuomo is pulling the trigger on 5,000 units of housing for low-income Medicaid recipients in Manhattan, the Bronx and Long Island. The initial phase of the plan calls for 12 new buildings to be built over the next year to 18 months, adding 483 housing units at a cost of $47 million.
The governor stated that the new housing would be developed using Medicaid savings identified by the state’s Medicaid Redesign Team, a diverse group of health care industry professionals. The first phase of building will also come with some $30 million in rent subsidies, according to NBC New York.
“A critical component to improving the health of New Yorkers and containing health care costs is to ensure that an individual’s housing needs are also met,” Nirav Shah, state Health Commissioner, told NBC. “By increasing the availability of supportive housing for high-need Medicaid beneficiaries, we will be able to reduce Medicaid costs and improve the quality of care for these individuals.” [NBC New York] –Christopher Cameron