Medically tailored meals could result in large cost savings for payers, a study published Oct. 17 in JAMA Network Open found.
The study, authored by researchers at Tufts University in Boston, estimated changes by modeling expenses for 6.3 million adults with at least one diet-sensitive health condition and at least one limitation on daily living making it difficult to prepare healthy meals.
The results of the study's simulation found medically tailored meals could save payers $13.6 billion annually. Private payers would save an estimated $3.1 billion annually, with the rest of the savings spread between Medicaid, Medicare and dual-eligible programs.
The model also found that up to 1.6 million hospitalizations could be avoided in the first year of implementing medically tailored meals.
Medically tailored meals are part of the Biden administration's plan to address food, nutrition and health. The administration plans to expand food-as-medicine Medicaid tests and supports legislation to bring this coverage to traditional Medicare.
Read the full study results here.