Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team approved the affordable housing proposal, which recommended some affordable housing supports for people with HIV. Housing Works has advocated a 30% rent cap for people with HIV for many years.

The final report of the Affordable Housing work group recommended the creation of a "Moving On Initiative" to support people in independent housing. This proposed initiative would evaluate "mechanisms for supporting tenants whose chief barrier to independent living is a lack of a cap on the tenant contribution in subsidized rental programs such as the enhanced rental assistance program for people with HIV disease/AIDS."

"The workgroup had to make a lot of hard decisions under a time crunch and the fact that they discuss supportive housing issues for people living with HIV, really shows how important these issues are," said Carmelita Cruz, Director of NYS Advocacy and Organizing for Housing Works. "Hopefully the Cuomo administration will take notice."

Since 2005, Housing Works has fought for the passage of New York State legislation that would cap the rents of the 10,000 New Yorkers receiving housing assistance from New York City's HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA).

Thanks to a short-sighted Pataki-era policy, people with AIDS in public housing are nearly the only New Yorkers expected to pay more than 30 percent of their public benefits (such as Veterans' or disability benefits) toward rent. Because of this policy, many HIV-positive people live on as little as $12 a day.

The MRT recommendations now go the Governor Cuomo's office, and advocates are waiting to see if the recommendations make their way into next year's budget.

Read the Medicaid Redesign Proposal below:

MRT Housing Final Recommendations

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