Meal deliveries can save money and improve health.
asserted
deliveries → save → health
Will they survive Medicaid cuts?
asserted
they → survive → cuts
On a weekday morning in a quiet Boston neighborhood, a kitchen bustled with activity.
asserted
kitchen → bustle → activity
Volunteers sliced chicken breasts, stuffed bell peppers, filled trays, and carefully labeled each item.
asserted
Volunteers → slice → item
It was part of an experiment to offer nutritious and medicall- tailored meals to Medicaid patients who are unable to shop for groceries and cook for themselves.
asserted
who → offer → themselves
"Once I started to eat these meals that were geared toward my illness, I built up my muscle mass again, built up my strength, built up my confidence in myself," said Vanessa Georges, who is in remission from throat cancer and said she would struggle to consume enough calories without the deliveries.
asserted
she → start → deliveries
"These meals have given me a second chance."
Georges said she noticed another benefit from the meals: She spends less time at the doctor's office.
asserted
She → give → office
Researchers have found evidence backing her observation.
asserted
Researchers → find → observation
About 1,900 Massachusetts residents who, like Georges, received medically-tailored meals for at least three months needed less medical care, according to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
uncertain
who → receive → journal
They had 20% fewer emergency department visits and 31% fewer hospitalizations than similar patients who did not receive meals.
asserted
who → have → meals
"It actually saves the healthcare system money," said Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor at Tufts University who led the study.
asserted
who → save → study
"That's a really big deal, because most things in healthcare don't."
asserted
things → do → healthcare
The research from Massachusetts adds to evidence that medically-tailored meals could save states money — in addition to improving health.
uncertain
meals → add → health
Yet such programs could land on the chopping block as states look to tighten spending under Trump administration budget cuts, even as federal officials argue that food is a critical component of health.
uncertain
food → land → health
Medicaid budget cuts loom
asserted
cuts → loom → ?
The 2025 law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act slashed projected Medicaid funding by more than $900 billion.
asserted
law → know → billion
Many Republicans who backed the bill believe federal health spending is too high and riddled with fraud.
asserted
spending → back → fraud
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, for example, has accused California of "outrageous fraud" for using Medicaid dollars to fund housing and nutrition programs.
asserted
Kennedy → accuse → programs
Amaya Diana, a policy analyst at KFF, said states will have to make tough choices in the next few years as they figure out how to fill funding gaps.
asserted
they → say → gaps
"If states are not able to offset the loss of federal funds with new taxes or reductions in other state spending, they may have to make program cuts," she said.
uncertain
she → offset → cuts
(KFF is a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.)
asserted
that → include → News
Thirteen states have received federal waivers to use Medicaid dollars to pay for meals — part of an approach known as "food is medicine."
asserted
food → receive → approach
Three other programs are awaiting federal approval.
asserted
programs → await → approval
President Donald Trump's support for social services has wavered.
asserted
support → waver → services
While the first Trump administration allowed states to pursue medically-tailored meals and other social supports, the second Trump administration rescinded Biden-era guidance for Medicaid initiatives that address social needs.
asserted
that → allow → needs
It hasn't detailed a new policy.
asserted
It → detail → policy
Administration officials have warned that they will be more focused on the budget impacts of such initiatives.
asserted
they → warn → initiatives
"They signaled they're going to be a lot more skeptical," said Kurt Hager, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School who studies nutrition programs and helped lead the Massachusetts study.
asserted
who → signal → study
"Instead of using a broad-based approach nationwide, they're going to make decisions on a state-by-state basis."
At the same time, health leaders in Trump's administration have made nutrition a major focus, including by promoting less-processed foods.
asserted
nutrition → use → foods
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who leads the Department of Health and Human Services, and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, have pushed hospitals to serve healthier foods to boost patient outcomes.
asserted
who → lead → outcomes
The healthcare system is often willing to pay for surgeries, Oz said in a social media video in June, "but not always willing to pay for the nutrition that might help prevent those outcomes in the first place.
uncertain
that → pay → place
That's bothered me my whole career."
asserted
That → bother → me
He added that the agency is evaluating several strategies, including medically tailored meals, to prevent illness and hospitalization.
asserted
agency → add → illness
CMS officials did not respond to several emailed requests for comment for this article.
asserted
officials → respond → article
Katie Garfield, who studies social determinants of health at Harvard Law School's Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, said the lack of federal guidance is stirring uncertainty for states that want to pursue nutrition programs in Medicaid.
asserted
that → study → Medicaid
"We're still waiting to see that big step forward around 'food is medicine' interventions," she said.
asserted
she → wait → interventions
"We need to see that step forward to resolve some of the uncertainty.
asserted
We → need → uncertainty
Lawmakers have had a hard time engaging administration officials on medically-tailored meals, said U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, who sponsored a bill that would pilot meal deliveries for some chronically-ill seniors on Medicare.
asserted
that → have → Medicare
The legislation has yet to come up for a vote.
asserted
legislation → have → vote
"I had thought, based on some of his rhetoric before he entered the Trump administration, that RFK Jr. would be a natural ally on this," McGovern said.
asserted
McGovern → think → this
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
