Oregon saw rise in housing, food insecurity during COVID despite surge in spending
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregonians saw an increase in food and housing insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic despite a surge in spending, according to a new study led by Oregon Health and Science University.
The study, which was published Monday in the Annals of Family Medicine, surveyed Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries in Oregon, and found housing and food insecurity rose at the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020 through at least the end of 2021.
Starting in 2019, OHSU researchers surveyed approximately 21,000 Oregon beneficiaries over three years, noting that timeframe “just happened to coincide with the biggest health calamity in a century.”
Even though Oregon Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries received a large infusion of support -- including eviction moratoriums, extended unemployment benefits, and direct government cash payments -- the state saw "an abrupt" 17.7% overall increase in health-related social needs in March 2020.
This includes food, housing, and safety needs increasing by 16.5%, 15.9%, and 4.4%, respectively starting in May 2020 through the end of 2021.
“Together, these findings drive home the point that health care organizations need to think about the social care of their patients,” said senior author Anne King, an OHSU adjunct faculty member who serves as Oregon state director of Comagine Health, a nonprofit health care quality improvement firm. “It actually improves their health and it reduces costs for taxpayers.”
According to OHSU, the findings show the need for more research to better understand which specific investments and policies may be the most helpful in addressing health-related social needs.
“What if we hadn’t done anything?” said the study’s lead author Jean Hiebert Larson, an OHSU finance analyst. “Would this have been much worse?”
The research was part of a nationwide study commissioned by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, which released a report earlier in November that found 1.1 million beneficiaries who had their basic needs addressed were on average healthier and spent less on health care compared to others who did not receive assistance.
The study comes after the Oregon Health Authority launched a program earlier in November that connects eligible Oregon Health Plan members with rent assistance and other housing benefits — aiming to help Oregonians with certain health conditions keep their housing.
The housing benefits include rent assistance for up to six months, utility set-up and payments for six months, home modifications and other upgrades for health and safety reasons such as ramp installation, and pest control.
“Oregon is ahead of the nation,” King said. “We’re at the forefront of the nation in understanding the relationship between stable housing and effective delivery of health care.”