Samaritan helps individuals navigate the complex process of finding housing by providing financial assistance for basic needs like groceries, transportation, and access to housing navigators.
In this episode, Ashish Pamula, Growth Lead at Samaritan, shares how his organization is tackling homelessness and housing insecurity by partnering with Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans, as well as health systems, to provide critical resources and support. He discusses Samaritan’s mission to drive systemic change in healthcare by addressing the social determinants of health, emphasizing the need to target root causes rather than temporary fixes. Highlighting the unique challenges faced by vulnerable populations, Ashish advocates for a holistic, long-term approach. He also shares his enthusiasm for Samaritan’s ambitious goal of serving 100,000 unhoused residents over the next five years by expanding partnerships and reaching underserved rural communities.
Tune in to learn how Samaritan is making a tangible difference in the lives of unhoused residents and driving meaningful change in the healthcare landscape!
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[00:00:01] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.
[00:00:35] Hey everyone, welcome back to the Beat Podcast recorded live here at Vive in Nashville, Tennessee. I've got the privilege of hosting Ashish Pamula today. He is the growth lead at Samaritan. Ashish helps lead the efforts to reach more people with stable housing by spearheading partnership efforts with Medicaid plans, Medicare Advantage plans and health systems. Welcome to the podcast, Ashish. Thank you. Thank you for having me. How's the conference going? We're on day two.
[00:01:05] Yeah, day two. I mean, yesterday was a pretty big day for us. We got to be a part of the Health Equity Awards. We were one of the grand winners there. Oh yeah. Congratulations on that, man. Thank you. That's awesome. I was by the stage and I saw you guys getting your award. Yeah. So that's huge. Yeah, it was a big step for us. I mean, it was awesome to just be considered and to win is obviously just lets us know we have a lot of momentum going in the right direction.
[00:01:27] So great. We'll definitely celebrate for you guys today. Yeah. That award. Let's get into it, Ashish. How is your organization helping drive change in healthcare? Yeah. You know, as providers and health plans realize that 60 to 80% of health outcomes are tied to social determinants of health, they've also realized how difficult it is to address these complex determinants.
[00:01:52] And in particular for the population that we're serving people without stable housing, it's very complex and expensive for plans to offer free housing to these individuals and even more complex for individuals who don't have housing to access this housing. And, you know, especially if you're Native American, if you're Black, if you're LGBTQ plus, I'm experiencing housing insecurity, it can become nearly impossible.
[00:02:18] So, you know, for this reason, I think health plans and providers, they look for resources that are driving engagement and healthy outcomes for people without stable housing.
[00:02:27] So really the work that we do at Samaritan, you know, through incentivized behavioral change, through flexible funds to help people meet strategic needs and relational support, we essentially help people meet their financial barriers and overcome their financial barriers and take action towards whatever stable health and housing looks like for them, which, you know, is not a simple process, but it is a very much needed service to make sure that we're not leaving anyone behind.
[00:02:56] No, I think that's really great and very essential. I mean, if you don't have a place to live, how can you take care of anything else? For sure. For sure. And that's what we see on the ground as well. You know, when you're exposed to the elements, to substances, to abuse, it can be nearly impossible to think about where am I going to sleep for the night? Where am I going to eat for the night? Those are the things that you're thinking about, not necessarily how am I going to access my health care? So trying to solve for the root cause of the problem instead of just continuously putting a Band-Aid on it.
[00:03:25] I love that. No, that's really great. And so talk to us about how Samaritan actually helps unstably house residents accelerate pathways to housing or health outcomes. Yeah. So homelessness and housing insecurity, just as I mentioned, degrade health outcomes in general. So what we do is we contract directly with the Medicaid plans, MA plans to essentially provide Samaritan as a resource that frontline providers,
[00:03:52] these nonprofits, these FQHCs can use to help people meet their strategic needs and to take action towards housing. So, you know, I think it really is a resource that isn't just meant to, over a 30-day period, help people meet their interim needs. It's a 12-month resource that, over time, as people are continuing to check in with the case manager, you know, there's a very complex kind of 27 steps that people have to generally go through to get to housing.
[00:04:20] But how do we keep people engaged from step zero to step 27? And that's just through providing that financial support so people can meet needs, like where am I going to get my groceries? Can I get some bus fare so I can get to medical appointments? Or can I have transportation expenses covered so I can go to a housing navigator? Kind of helping people along the way over a 12-month period. And yeah, we see that within 6 to 12 months, when people have access to the raw materials that they need to really move forward,
[00:04:50] that's essential to making sure that people are able to eventually and ultimately find stability in their lives. I mean, you know, we've seen that on the ground, but also just through other guaranteed income pilots across the country. You know, it's not just Samaritan doing this work. We are just one of the pieces of the puzzle. And, you know, I think it's going to be a key thing moving forward as well. So that's fantastic. Are there specific areas in the country where this is happening more than others on the Medicare side?
[00:05:20] And then on the Medicaid side, are there specific states that you see more action from? Yeah, you know, I think for Medicaid, at least right now, we are focused, I'd say, on the West Coast and the East Coast. Not necessarily in the Midwest as of now, just based on our partnerships with Medicaid plans. I think Medicaid plans right now, they have a larger share of unhoused residents who are Medicaid beneficiaries. In California and Washington and then East Coast, you know, New York City, Florida, Kentucky as well.
[00:05:48] So that's where we're currently focused right now. Medicare is an emerging opportunity, I would say, in that a lot of individuals are aging out of Medicaid, especially unhoused populations. It's an aging population. So as they age out of Medicaid, they will become eligible for Medicare and Medicare Advantage as well. So I think it's something more that is emerging right now in that that population is going to be growing tenfold and aging out of just pure Medicaid.
[00:06:15] So that's where we'll see, you know, that opportunity really start to rise in the next five years. But at least for now, Medicaid is really where we're focused just based on that's really where a majority of the folks that we're serving are. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, it's always good to know where the action's happening. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And so why Medicaid and Medicare Advantage? How do Medicaid plans, Medicare Advantage plans and health systems benefit from partnering with Samaritan?
[00:06:44] Yeah, as I mentioned, really the upstream benefit that Medicaid plans and Medicare Advantage plans see from partnering with Samaritan is this reduction in the pull on the emergency system. So when people are, you know, have the financial support they need, when they have the social support they need to just move forward, they're using the emergency department less. They're going to the hospital less. You know, more often than not, what we see is that unhoused residents will just go to the hospital because they know the people there.
[00:07:13] It's a place for them to sleep. It's a place for them to get a hot meal. But, you know, when they have this financial support, this relational support, they don't necessarily need to just rely on the hospital to get their basic needs met. So, you know, I'd say that's where really at the heart of it for Medicaid plans, they're really looking to reduce this pull on the emergency system. I think also it gives a lens into what gaps that the Medicaid plan has in terms of covering people's SDOH needs.
[00:07:41] There's a difference between really meeting an SDOH need versus solving for that SDOH. One is helping people get transportation to a medical appointment. And that just may be something that we're doing to put a band-aid on the problem. But if we're looking to actually solve for that person's social determinant of health, that involves helping that person get steady income or helping that person move to housing that is near reliable transportation, public transportation.
[00:08:08] And that is really solving for someone's SDOH needs. So, yeah, I think it's really about not just meeting that need, but figuring out how we can solve for that so sustainably Medicaid plans can cover that on a long-term basis. That's fantastic. And, you know, Ashish, I'm just curious, out of all the problems that you could have gone after, why did you decide on this one? Yeah, you know, I think it really starts with there's a long story about just how pervasive homelessness is,
[00:08:37] especially in my home state of California. I think it's hard to not grow up in Southern California and not see an unhoused resident who is essentially your neighbor. That is a person who lives in your community and is a part of the fabric of that community. So, you know, our real ethos is, well, our mission is walk with, not buy, which comes from the fact that, you know, hey, we all see these people on the streets every single day.
[00:09:02] Our founder, we started in Seattle where we just went up to an unhoused resident and asked, hey, what do you think your biggest barrier is into getting into housing? And he mentioned financial support. He mentioned having the ability to meet his needs. But I think what was most important to him, at least, was people just walk by me and they don't even consider me and people just ignore me. And it's that social home, I think, that is most important.
[00:09:29] You know, even beyond this financial support, being able to just make sure that people feel supported, that they feel loved, like they are just a regular everyday community member. That's great. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. We talk about solving problems and pain points. What would you say the biggest pain point your organization helps solve? Medicaid plans are, you know, as I mentioned before, they're really looking to find out how to better engage populations without stable housing.
[00:09:57] It's very tough for them to, number one, just get in touch with them and be able to direct them to resources that they have. And that's because there's disparate technology access. People don't have cell phones. They don't have internet access. They also may have a different level of just tech literacy in general. So I think the pain point is, number one, being able to even get in touch with these folks.
[00:10:19] And sometimes we've seen how Medicaid plans are not even aware that this was a member who they are covering who was experiencing homelessness. They didn't show up in their data. So it's almost like we're reconnecting these members with their Medicaid plans. And then from there, you know, Medicaid plans already have a lot of resources that they've stood up to serve this population. But they're just not getting used. And again, it's because people don't have the capacity to be able to take advantage of these resources.
[00:10:47] So it's really just about driving that engagement and making sure that, you know, not only are we respecting their needs, but we're respecting the journey that they have to go through and making sure that they have that support along the way. That's fantastic. Thank you for sharing that. Where is Samaritan headed in the next five years? Where right now we have served 3,000 unhoused residents to date across the states. We're contracted with three health systems and eight Medicaid plans.
[00:11:14] Our goal really in the end, in the next five years, is to serve 100,000 people. And that I think is really going to start with our growing partnerships with Medicaid plans. We're working with the Aetnas of the world, the Elevances, the Centines. And so as we are continuing to reproduce some of these outcomes that they're looking for, I think it'll be something that we can essentially copy and paste to other plans that are also having these same issues.
[00:11:40] Right now, we are focused in some of these more larger metropolitan areas where unhoused populations tend to be at. But I think in the future, you know, we want to think more about how can we translate this to a more rural population as well in some of these Midwest states, especially because we know rural communities already are at a standstill. They have a lack of resources in general. So being able to provide just anything to help people move forward, I think will be imperative.
[00:12:06] So, yeah, I think in the next five years, we'll continue to be in these larger areas, but we'll also want to make that transition to some of these more rural areas as well. Let's hit that 100,000 number. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Let's do it. I love it. I love it. Well, Ashish, I really appreciate you sharing what you and the team are up to at Samaritan. The impact you're making on equity and just access is huge.
[00:12:31] What closing thought would you leave our listeners with and where can people reach out to learn more? Yeah. You know, I had thought about this closing thought for a little bit. And I think what always comes to my mind is, especially at conferences like five, we hear something along the lines of housing equals health. And I think it's almost become a buzzword at this point in the sense that we almost don't recognize the gravity of those words.
[00:12:55] And, you know, what always comes back to my mind is a quote by Professor Joseph Pierce around what is acknowledgement without action? And acknowledgement without action is self-serving and exculpatory, which essentially brings me back to, you know, what does it mean if we are acknowledging that housing is health without actually taking action towards making that a reality? So, you know, I think our goal is to really help be the driver or one of the drivers behind making sure that,
[00:13:24] hey, when we say housing is health, that's not just something that we're saying to score brownie points or to be able to know that, you know, hey, we're on the right side of things. We want to see people really just take action on that in their everyday lives. It doesn't have to be in your own profession. It can just be in your own community. How are you helping to make that statement a reality? So, yeah, I really challenge us all to think about how we can do that in our own communities and our own lives. And I think, you know, if we're all able to just chip in little by little,
[00:13:53] I think we can get to the point where we do make it a reality. And that's the goal that I'm hoping to really to find out. Yeah, that's beautiful. I love that closing thought. And if people want to reach out to learn more, where can they do that? Yeah, I mean, if you want to follow along on us on our journey, we have a website, Samaritan.City, C-I-T-Y. I know it's a little bit of a unique website, but yeah, I mean, we're always growing. We're always sharing stories about the people that we're serving.
[00:14:20] If you want to reach out to me, my email is ap at Samaritan.City. Always looking to build relationships, especially as we grow. And again, I just want to appreciate you for the opportunity to share. And yeah, really looking forward to seeing if we can together, hopefully see that 100,000 mark in the next five years. I love that, man. So great. So folks, reach out to Ashish if what he's doing, what he and the Samaritan team is doing has resonated with you and you have ideas for collaboration,
[00:14:49] getting to the goal that they have for the number of people that they want to help. Housing is health and his story is definitely inspiring. So thank you all for tuning in and Ashish, thanks for being with us. Thank you. This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket,
[00:15:18] your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit OutcomesRocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.