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Providers and residents back bill to fund supportive senior housing and direct Medicaid resources to place‑based services
Summary
2Life Communities, residents and supportive‑housing advocates urged passage of H1369 to fund place‑based services in affordable senior housing and redirect Medicaid resources to support on‑site services that keep low‑income seniors healthy and out of nursing homes.
Representatives of nonprofit senior housing provider 2Life Communities, residents and supportive‑housing advocates urged the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs to support H1369, a bill that would strengthen supportive housing and seek to reduce health‑care costs for low‑income seniors by directing Medicaid funds toward place‑based services in affordable senior housing.
Amy Schechman, CEO of 2Life Communities, described the organization’s model that combines deeply affordable housing with on‑site supportive services and social programming aimed at reducing isolation and improving health. She said the provider’s resident population has a median household income of about $14,000 and a substantial share are nursing‑home eligible but remain in community settings.
Several residents spoke in favor of the measure, describing improved health and social engagement since moving into supportive affordable buildings. Residents and staff said the services — care coordination, wellness programming, transportation assistance and on‑site clinical partnerships — allow many residents to remain in their homes instead of transitioning to nursing homes.
Proponents argued that a modest Medicaid contribution for place‑based services would leverage existing affordable housing to avoid costlier institutional care, citing internal estimates and public‑health research linking community living to lower rates of heart attack, stroke and cognitive decline. 2Life requested an allocation mechanism and referenced an indicative per‑building figure (presented in testimony as a small per‑unit or per‑building payment) to underwrite fitness, wellness and resident services.
Witnesses also expressed support for related bills (S475 bridge subsidy, H781 PACE statute) and asked the committee to consider how Medicaid funding could be administered to support supportive housing at scale.
Ending: Residents and providers urged lawmakers to advance H1369 as a cost‑effective approach to improve outcomes for low‑income seniors and reduce Medicaid spending on institutional care.
