Braiding & Blending Funding Streams to Meet the Health-Related Social Needs of Low-Income Persons: Considerations for State Health Policymakers

This brief aims to bring attention to non-Medicaid funding sources that states could potentially blend or braid to address social determinants of health and other needs that are not typically covered by Medicaid. It is intended to familiarize state Medicaid, public health, and other state policymakers with the funding streams of other agencies, and sketch out a continuum of options to help states coordinate funding to better serve the needs of low-income populations. Because this brief focuses on services for adult Medicaid beneficiaries, it does not address many of the funding sources available for children’s services. However, existing efforts to pool funds for children and youth—notably by the Commonwealth of Virginia—could prove instructive for states seeking to launch such an effort for adults.