Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Oregon program

Rent and food help through the Oregon Health Plan (HRSN)

Extra help built into the Oregon Health Plan for members whose health and living situation put them at risk: rent, utilities, home safety changes and food.

What it is

Extra help built into the Oregon Health Plan for members whose health and living situation put them at risk: rent, utilities, home safety changes and food.

A new complex health condition is written into the plan's own list of reasons for rent help, and a child aged 6 to 20 with a complex physical condition is on its food list. When treatment has pushed a family toward eviction or an empty fridge, this is money the plan already holds for exactly that.

Eligibility rules
  • Rent help: a lease or written rental agreement, risk to your housing, household income at or under 30% of the average yearly income where you live, and a clinical route such as a complex health condition that is new or getting worse, or a child under 6.
  • Food benefits: a child 5 or younger, or a child or young adult aged 6 to 20 with a complex physical health condition, with low or very low food security and a listed life situation: at risk of becoming homeless, in or formerly in foster care, left incarceration or a mental health or substance use treatment facility in the past 12 months, new Medicare alongside Medicaid, or youth-with-special-health-needs benefits.
  • Home changes: a health condition that requires the change plus a listed life situation.
What you get
  • Rent for up to six months, including late payments, paid once per household.
  • Utility set-up and bills alongside the rent help.
  • Home changes for health and safety: pest control, heavy-duty cleaning, ramps, grab bars, drawer pulls.
  • Fruit and vegetables or pantry stocking for up to six months, medically tailored meals when a physician or dietitian says they fit, and nutrition education.
What the help covers
  • Rent for up to six months including late payments; rent and utility help is a one-time benefit per household, and utility help only comes alongside rent help.
  • Fruit and vegetable or pantry-stocking benefits for up to six months, available since July 1, 2026; medically tailored meals when your child's physician or a dietitian says they are appropriate.
  • Moving costs and the caps on home changes are not published; ask the plan.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your child's coordinated care organization for its Health-Related Social Needs request by phone or on its form; Open Card members ask Acentra on 1-888-834-4304 or ORHRSN@Acentra.com.
  2. Say that your child's condition is new or getting worse, which is one of the plan's clinical routes, and name the benefit you need.
  3. Have the lease, any rent or utility notice and household income ready; for food, be ready to say how short food is and which life situation applies.

Your coordinated care organization; Open Card: Acentra Health, 1-888-834-4304; OHP Client Services, 1-800-273-0557 · Official page ↗

After the request
  • The plan assesses the request and pays the landlord, utility or food vendor directly for the approved months; ask how long its assessment takes and who to call if a notice arrives first.
Good to know

The diagnosis is the clinical route, not the whole test: rent help also needs a lease, housing risk and income at or under 30% of your area's average, and food benefits need low food security plus a listed life situation.

Other details
  • Open Card members (not in a coordinated care organization) go through Acentra Health, 1-888-834-4304 or ORHRSN@Acentra.com; OHP Client Services, 1-800-273-0557, answers general questions.
  • Food benefits and SNAP are separate: SNAP is the monthly grocery card on this page, and the plan's food benefits sit on top of it for up to six months.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Our child is on the Oregon Health Plan and rent and food are slipping during treatment. Could the plan's Health-Related Social Needs benefits help with rent or food, and could you help us put the request in?”

Why I’m asking: I want to keep our housing and food steady while our child is in treatment, using help the plan already provides.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask the plan for its request form, name the benefit, and give the lease, notices and income.

Your social worker

The hospital social worker can confirm the condition is new or worsening and help word the request.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The coordinated care organization, or Acentra Health for Open Card members, under the Oregon Health Authority's rules.
Ask your social worker
“Our child is on the Oregon Health Plan and rent and food are slipping. Can the plan's Health-Related Social Needs benefits help, and will you help us put in the request?”

How to apply

First step: Ask your CCO for its Health-Related Social Needs request, or, for Open Card, call Acentra on 1-888-834-4304.

  1. Ask the CCO (or Acentra for Open Card, 1-888-834-4304) for its Health-Related Social Needs request and name the benefit you need: rent, utilities, home changes, or food.
  2. Say that your child's condition is new or getting worse; that is one of the plan's clinical routes.
  3. Have the lease, a rent or utility notice if there is one, and household income ready; for food, be ready to describe how short food is and which life situation applies.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask your CCO by phone or on its HRSN housing request form; Open Card members contact Acentra on 1-888-834-4304 or ORHRSN@Acentra.com. OHP Client Services, 1-800-273-0557, answers general questions.

What to gather

  • The lease or rental agreement
  • Any rent, eviction or utility notice
  • Household income
  • For food: how short food is and which life situation applies

How long: Not published; ask the plan how long its assessment takes.

What a yes looks like

The plan approves the request and pays the landlord, utility or food vendor directly for the approved months.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which test was unmet: the clinical route, the lease, housing risk, the income line, food security or the life situation; a change in any of them is a reason to ask again.

Watch out

  • The diagnosis is the clinical route, not the whole test: rent help needs a lease, housing risk and income under the local line.
  • Rent and utility help is a one-time benefit per household.
  • Food benefits need low food security plus a listed life situation, such as housing risk or a foster-care history.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 25, 2026.

What it is worth

Up to six months of rent, utilities alongside it, home safety changes, and up to six months of food benefits, for an Oregon Health Plan member whose health condition and living situation meet the plan's tests.

  • $6 — Rent help, maximum months (including late payments)
  • $6 — Fruit and vegetable or pantry-stocking benefit, maximum months
  • $30 — Rent help income test: household income as a share of the area's average yearly income, maximum

Covers: Rent for up to six months, including late payments · Utility set-up and bills alongside rent help · Home changes for health and safety: pest control, heavy-duty cleaning, ramps, grab bars, drawer pulls · Fruit and vegetable benefit or pantry stocking for up to six months · Medically tailored meals when a physician or dietitian says they fit · Nutrition education

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Coverage
an Oregon Health Plan member, through a coordinated care organization or Open Card
Clinical route housing
someone getting health care for a complex health condition that is new or getting worse, or a child under 6, among other listed conditions
Housing tests
a lease or written rental agreement, risk to housing, and household income at or under 30% of the area's average yearly income; rent and utility help once per household; utility help only alongside rent help
Clinical route food
a child 5 or younger, or a child or young adult aged 6 to 20 with a complex physical health condition, among other listed conditions
Food tests
low or very low food security plus a listed life situation: at risk of homelessness, in or formerly in foster care, left incarceration or a treatment facility in the past 12 months, new Medicare alongside Medicaid, or youth-with-special-health-needs benefits
Home changes
a health condition that requires the change plus a listed life situation

Decisions this site cannot make: The plan's assessment of the clinical route, the housing or food test and the life situation, request by request

Expect friction on: Rent and utility help is once per household and needs a lease, housing risk and income under a local line; food benefits need low food security plus a listed life situation

The trap: The diagnosis is the clinical route, not the whole test. Rent help also needs a lease, housing risk and income under the local line, and food benefits need low food security plus a listed life situation. Rent and utility help comes once per household.

Where I read this

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