Affordable Housing News

Vol. 22 Issue 26

LeadingAge Members Meet with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro (Niles Godes, LeadingAge) – A group of LeadingAge housing members and staff met with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro in late October to discuss issues important to America’s elderly population.

The meeting focused primarily on 3 key issues:

1. The looming crisis in affordable senior housing caused by shrinking capital for new construction and an aging population.
2. The lack of a national plan to preserve existing PRAC housing. They emphasized that there are approximately 2,800 PRAC communities in the country, some of which are nearing a quarter-century old and few of which have sufficient reserves for necessary upkeep and improvements. Secretary Castro said PRAC preservation is a key priority for HUD.
3. The importance of housing as a platform for senior services and the impact of housing with services on health care spending. Research shows providing seniors with the appropriate services can help bend down the cost curve on health care spending.

Secretary Castro stressed HUD’s commitment to finding solutions that provide the elderly with affordable, quality places to call home.

LeadingAge has long supported HUD’s mission and will continue being a strong partner of the agency.

The LeadingAge representatives included:

• Michelle Norris, National Church Residences Development Corporation
• Roger Myers, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan
• Jasmine Borrego, TELACU Residential Management
• Patrick Sheridan, Volunteers of America
• Brandon Moss, CSI
• Gregory Franks, Kirkland Union Manor
• Alisha Sanders, LeadingAge
• Niles Godes, LeadingAge

LeadingAge Study: Service Coordinators Linked with 18% Reduction in Resident Hospitalizations (Geralyn Magan, LeadingAge) – The availability of an on-site service coordinator at federally subsidized senior housing reduced the odds of having a hospital admission among residents by 18%.

That’s the main finding of a new study by the LeadingAge Center for Housing Plus Services and The Lewin Group.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation funded the study, which was released on Nov. 20 at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

Alisha Sanders, the center's managing director, presented the study’s findings during the GSA meeting.

“The population as a whole is getting grayer and policymakers are under increasing pressure to rein in health care costs,” said Sanders. “Federal and state agencies, as well as health care providers, should consider partnering with affordable senior housing properties to coordinate services. Our study indicates that such coordination and collaboration could save Medicare dollars for millions of low-income elderly residents.”

About the Housing Plus Services Study

The MacArthur-funded study, described in Affordable Senior Housing Plus Services: What's the Value?, is one of the first to examine the association between the availability of onsite services in affordable senior housing properties and residents’ health care utilization and spending.

Researchers analyzed health care utilization and spending among 8,706 older adults in 507 properties located in 12 communities around the country. The median age of residents in the study was 80 years old. More than half (56%) of the residents were eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. About half had 5 or more chronic conditions, which are associated with higher than average health care spending.

Importance of Service Coordinators

The study’s key finding—that residents living in housing with onsite service coordinators had significantly lower hospitalization rates than those without this position—supports previous research showing the positive effects associated with service coordination, says Sanders.

Service coordinators help residents of affordable senior housing navigate the complex health care system and gain better access to needed services. Improving access to and coordination of health services for high-cost individuals is a primary component of many health reform efforts.

“The size of the senior housing population, and the health challenges that these residents face, suggest that substantial health care savings could be realized if more housing properties had service coordinators working on site,” says Sanders.

The report outlines specific ways that a service coordinator could enhance an individual’s ability to better manage his or her health conditions. For example, a service coordinator could:

• Help improve residents’ access to primary care physicians by helping to coordinate doctor appointments and transportation to medical appointments.
• Help identify and access resources—like a Medicare Part D plan or a meal delivery program—that could help residents address challenges or barriers to maintaining good health.
• Encourage residents to visit their doctors when early warning signs or concerns are identified, rather than waiting until the condition worsens.

For More Information

Visit LeadingAge.org/housingservices to view all of the components of the Housing Plus Services study:

• Findings from the analysis that researchers conducted to gauge the association between onsite service availability and health care use and spending.
• Results of a survey exploring the availability of onsite services in HUD-assisted senior housing properties in 12 geographic areas.
• Interviews with state policymakers about how affordable senior housing can support the reform of health and long-term care.
• Case studies describing affordable senior Housing Plus Services programs in Cleveland, Camden, and Boston.