News

Unhoused Populations in Los Angeles County to Receive Higher Levels of Care Thanks to Health Net and L.A. Care Health Plan

Date: 05/03/23

We know that partnerships often create great success. That's why we work with community-based organizations, providers and more, to care for our members. Now, we're taking it one step further. Health Net has partnered with L.A. Care Health Plan to help the unhoused across Los Angeles (LA) County.

LA County has declared a state of emergency due to the homeless crisis. Our new partnership commits $114 million* to assist people who need higher levels of care and increase access to permanent housing.

Working with the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative, the investment has two initial plans.

1. Secure leases on as many as 1,900 housing units and pay for vacancy coverage, damage repair, trash services, greenspace, maintenance, and/or pest control.
2. Identify the needs of unhoused people through field assessments to determine who requires assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADL) to move into permanent housing, which is especially important due to the growing number of seniors experiencing homelessness and people with disabilities.

Even though local, state and federal funding supports many housing vouchers, a recent study found only 65% of people issued a voucher can lease a unit. It also takes an average of 122 days for those lucky enough to find a rental location. Between a hard rental market, and illegal discrimination against voucher holders, it can be hard to put these vouchers to use.

Furthermore, most shelters and temporary housing settings are made for people that can take care of themselves. But some of the homeless population need help with things like bathing, dressing and getting in and out of bed. Because of these limitations, some of these people are seen as too needy for placement. When this happens, they remain unsheltered for longer periods.

Health Net knows that being unhoused, and the quality of one's housing, can affect a person's health and well-being. Put that knowledge with the fact that much of this population are people of color, and it becomes clear this is a health equity issue. We are proud to take these needed steps to improve the whole-person health for LA County.

* The funding for this investment is the result of California's Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP), which the state launched with the help of matching funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. HHIP is a voluntary incentive program allowing Medi-Cal managed care plans to earn incentive funds for making progress in addressing homelessness and housing insecurity as social determinants of health.