Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh emphasized the importance of thinking of food as medicine and a plan to invest $900,000 in state funding for a food is medicine pilot program, called Investments in Health. Through the pilot program, Medicaid recipients with certain diet-sensitive chronic health conditions will receive medically tailored meals that can improve health, reduce need for hospital stays and other costly interventions, and reduce health care spending.
“A person’s ability to access fresh, healthy food is essential to their overall health and wellbeing. Pennsylvania has a unique opportunity right now to make strategic investments in proven prevention efforts that can help people be healthier, decrease health care costs, and reduce food insecurity in individuals with high-risk health conditions,” said Secretary Arkoosh. “When we take a positive, proactive approach to improving people’s health, we can improve both their quality of life and reduce health care costs by investing in less expensive, less invasive interventions like medically tailored meals; that is a win for everyone.”
Currently, Medicaid managed care organizations that work with PA DHS work with community-based organizations to provide medically tailored meals on a limited basis. This proposed investment of state funds will expand this work, focusing on people with heart disease, diabetes (including gestational diabetes), end stage renal disease, and cancer patients actively receiving chemotherapy. With the investment of $900,000 in state funds, Pennsylvania would be able to leverage additional federal matching funds, which will bring total funding to $2.3 million.
Investments in Health will provide funding in three key areas:
- Food is Medicine: $900,000 in state funds to leverage federal investment for a total of $2.3 million to support a pilot program that will bring medically tailored meals to Medicaid recipients with diet-sensitive health conditions.
- Reentry Supports: $900,000 in state funds to leverage additional federal funding for a total of $2.7 million that will support pre-release Medicaid coverage for incarcerated individuals returning to their communities from State Correctional Institutions.
- Housing Stability: $1 million in state funding to leverage additional federal funding for a total of $2.5 million to launch a pilot that will help Pennsylvanians experiencing homelessness connect to stable housing and services.
“We’re excited to welcome Secretary Arkoosh to the Good Food Project, where surplus food that could have gone to waste is instead transformed into nourishment for our communities,” said 412 Food Rescue CEO Alyssa Cholodofsky. “We’re driven by the belief that fresh, nutritious, and truly accessible food is a human right, and we look forward to discussing how to ensure that more Pennsylvanians enjoy that right.”
412 Food Rescue is driven by the belief that good food belongs to people, not landfills. The organization launched in Pittsburgh, PA, in March 2015 to divert fresh food from going to waste by redirecting it to people facing food insecurity. Today, it is the largest volunteer food rescue organization in the country with a growing community of 26,000+ volunteers. 412 Food Rescue partners with other local nonprofits and advocacy organizations to help get fresh, healthy food to people at increased risk of health complications due to food insecurity. Last year, the organization worked with organizations and doulas in the surrounding area to bring nutritious food to parents who are recently postpartum, helping families eat and care for themselves during this critical time.
