Nutritious food is foundational to good health — yet in 2023, 38% of households below the federal poverty level faced food insecurity. For the nearly one in five Americans covered by Medicaid, this challenge directly impacts health outcomes and healthcare costs. Food Is Medicine (FIM) initiatives are gaining traction as a scalable, evidence-informed solution.

In a recent essay published by the Milken Institute, Dr. Alice Hm Chen, Chief Health Officer at Centene, explores how FIM programs can help improve clinical outcomes and avoidable healthcare costs across Medicaid populations. Centene has developed a framework to guide FIM efforts in support of our Medicaid members in 30 states, aligning intervention design with population needs and community goals.

By aligning healthy food access with clinical objectives and partnering across sectors, we are helping transform nutrition into a strategic driver of improved health and affordability.

Key takeaways include: 

• Chronic conditions and cost: An estimated 60% of U.S. adults have at least one chronic condition. Diet-related conditions drive 85% of healthcare spending across the entire healthcare system.
• Evidence-based results: High-dose, targeted-reach FIM programs, such as medically tailored meals (MTMs), have been shown to reduce hospitalizations by 49%, skilled nursing admissions by 72%, and healthcare costs by 16%.
• Tailored interventions: Low-dose, broad-reach programs, such as produce prescriptions (PRxs), help reduce food insecurity and improve clinical outcomes like glucose control.
• Evaluating impact: Rigorous evaluation of program outcomes — including clinical, financial and member experience metrics — supports continuous improvement and scale.
• Sustained support: Connecting members to long-term resources like SNAP and WIC ensures continuity of access beyond the duration of FIM interventions.  

Read Dr. Chen’s full essay, Fighting Food Insecurity to Improve Health, on the Milken Institute site.

*All statistics used in this post are sourced from the referenced essay above.