Key facts
- A study found that six months of medically tailored meals were associated with 31% fewer hospitalizations and 20% fewer emergency room visits among Medicaid members.
- The program generated an average of $3,433 in per-person healthcare savings, with higher savings for patients with kidney disease ($12,312), cardiovascular disease ($10,450), depression and anxiety ($5,597), and diabetes ($4,123).
- The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act, a bipartisan bill, is proposed to establish a six-year Medicare pilot in 10 states.
- The Food is Medicine Coalition has developed a standard for medically tailored meals to ensure rigor and effectiveness.
- Authors call for increased funding for nutrition science at agencies like the National Institutes of Health.
A study published in Nature Medicine provides evidence that medically tailored meals can significantly improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Researchers from the Tufts University Food is Medicine Institute and the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, in partnership with Massachusetts healthcare systems and Community Servings, found that six months of these specialized meals led to a 31% decrease in hospitalizations and a 20% decrease in emergency room visits among Medicaid members. The intervention also generated substantial healthcare savings, averaging $3,433 per person, with particularly high savings observed for patients with kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety, and diabetes.
The findings suggest that integrating medically tailored meals into healthcare programs can be a cost-effective strategy to keep people well. The authors are urging policymakers to act on this evidence. Specifically, they recommend that Congress pass the bipartisan Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act, which would establish a six-year Medicare pilot program in 10 states to lay the groundwork for broader coverage for seniors. Additionally, they emphasize the need for federal and state leaders to mandate evidence-based standards for providers offering food as medical treatment, to ensure that only rigorous interventions are reimbursed. The Food is Medicine Coalition has already developed such a standard. The authors also advocate for increased funding for nutrition science research at national agencies like the National Institutes of Health.
Despite the growing body of evidence, access to these life-saving interventions remains limited. In Massachusetts alone, 220,000 people qualify for medically tailored meals, but Community Servings expects to serve less than 4% of them this year due to inconsistencies in insurance coverage, medical training, and referral pathways. The authors conclude that making medically tailored meals a standard available therapy in Medicare and Medicaid is crucial for improving well-being and averting costly acute care.