Food and produce continues to be the biggest nonmedical supplemental benefit in Medicare Advantage. A total of 1,475 MA plans plan to offer this benefit in 2024. Why is it so popular? Food insecurity is a pervasive problem among older adults, according to Lauren Driscoll, CEO of NourishedRx, and Andy Friedell, COO of The Helper Bees. They recently spoke to McKnight’s Home Care for a podcast about how the shift to value-based care has helped reveal nutrition’s importance in preventing illness and hospitalization.
NourishedRx, a digital health and nutrition platform, and The Helper Bees, a platform that offers a one-stop shop for services in the home, recently celebrated the delivery of 30,000 meals to older adults at home. It’s a milestone Lauren Driscoll, CEO of NourishedRx, and Andy Friedell, COO of The Helper Bees, are proud of given the nutrition needs of seniors. Driscoll believes the recognition of the role of food in healthcare is long overdue, and it’s frustrating that diet-related disease has spiraled out of control. Medicare Advantage plans continue to innovate their offerings, according to Friedell. What has trended over the last few years is plans moving away from a unit of service type of allocation toward a more member-directed program, he said. In 2024, Friedell and Driscoll hope to be able to collect more data on the performance of services and improve efficiency and personalization of offerings.
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