Board OKs expanded health care, purchase of sites for housing
More housing and more health care.
On Tuesday the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved moving ahead with the purchase of two affordable housing sites in San Jose and the expansion of its health insurance program. The actions are reflective of a larger effort by the county’s leadership to address the region’s continuing issues of homelessness, housing affordability and cost-of-living.
On the housing, the two sites on 750 West San Carlos St. and South Bascom Ave. will create a combined 159 units, costing roughly $11 million in Measure A bond funds. Together, the sites will include housing for those making 50 to 60 percent or less of the area median income, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing and a small number of units set aside for veterans. The two sites join a list of over 30 other Measure A developments, most located in San Jose and a few in Gilroy, San Martin and Mountain View.
Alex Shoor, executive director of the advocacy and community engagement group Catalyze SV, said that the county’s approval of the two sites shows it is “working well” with California’s goal of streamlining such projects. His one critique of the process, however, was that the developer working on the South Bascom Ave. project reduced the height of the proposed complex by one story after neighbors raised concerns, effectively slashing about 10 units.
“If the county is gonna invest all this money,” he said “the county should get the most bang for its buck.”
As for the health care expansion, the decision by the supervisors will double the income cap eligibility for the county’s Primary Care Access Program, or PCAP.
Those making 400% of the federal poverty level — or about $106,000 — will now be able to apply for the program, which currently has 8,000 adults enrolled. The proposal was introduced by Supervisors Joe Simitian and Otto Lee.
“This is going to be a game changer,” said Lee during Tuesday’s meeting. “As we all know, we do not have universal health care in this country. This is one of the ways our county can offer as much coverage as possible to our resident.”
The yearly $5 million cost of PCAP, which is for those who aren’t eligible for Medi-Cal or Covered California, represents a small slice of the county’s enormous $9.2 billion budget. Scaling up of the program is estimated to cost around $10 million, a figure that could change depending on how many people end up enrolling and whether the county ends up having less residents visit emergency rooms since they would have a primary care doctor. There are currently 80,000 people without health insurance in Santa Clara County, according to county estimates.