Good food and stable housing have huge effects on health. So Colorado Medicaid wants to cover those, too.

For people who can’t afford safe housing or nutritious food, doctor visits and hospital stays can only do so much to fix health problems. That’s the premise behind a plan to allow Colorado’s Medicaid program, which provides government-funded health insurance for people with low incomes, to cover the costs of housing and nutrition services. The outside-the-box idea catching on across the country is a recognition that health care happens beyond the doctor’s office and that taxpayers might actually save money long term if people had the means to stay healthy....