Headline
A post-hospitalization supplemental home-delivered meals benefit saw significant uptake and high satisfaction among Medicare Advantage members with greater financial or food insecurity.
Context
Medicare Advantage plans can include medically tailored meal delivery as a supplemental benefit to address food insecurity among members. Kaiser Permanente Southern California began delivering post-hospitalization meals to eligible Medicare Advantage members in 2021. This study explored how neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors, receipt of prior medical financial assistance, and food insecurity affected uptake and satisfaction with the meal benefit for referred members.
Findings
Members who had previously received medical financial assistance from the health system and reported food insecurity were more likely to accept the home-delivered meals and report higher satisfaction levels. Neighborhood-level data correlated to socioeconomic disadvantage was not associated with an uptake in acceptance of the meals. Additionally, white patients were less likely to accept the meals compared to several other racial groups and patients who were more severely ill were also less likely to accept the meals compared to less ill patients.
Takeaways
Post-hospitalization home-delivered meal benefits may help address the unmet health-related social needs of members facing financial strain or food insecurity. Medicare Advantage plans offering this benefit can consider targeting this intervention to reach these populations.