Food security boils down to having consistent access to nutritious food for an active, healthy life. Unfortunately, this still isn’t a reality for everyone in the United States, and it impacts everything from quality of life to health care costs.
Take in the big picture to see why we’re still so stuck, and rethink food security as a form of preventive care for your Medicaid and Medicare members.
Food insecurity among Medicaid and Medicare populations
Food insecurity is the most prevalent non-medical driver of health (NMDOH) for Medicaid and Medicare members. Food, the key to sustaining life, is tied to other health needs and resources that affect outcomes. Let’s talk about how food insecurity happens in the first place.
Barriers to food security
Food insecurity and widespread health inequities are disproportionately higher across minority populations, but they can impact anyone. This is especially true of members facing income and transportation challenges, which makes access to nutritious food more challenging. Plus, individuals living in rural areas or other food deserts without nearby grocery stores face even deeper risks.
Compounding factors
So many Medicare and Medicaid members also struggle with chronic conditions. These individuals are constantly trying to balance their well-being, facing disabilities, medication side effects and even poor nutrient absorption due to their health challenges.
Perpetuating a cycle of poor health
Food insecurity is closely linked to health challenges and negative outcomes; people in households experiencing food insecurity are more likely to have a chronic disease. This creates a vicious cycle:
Poor nutrition → higher health care utilization → higher costs → poor access to nutritious food
Food security and chronic disease
Food-insecure adults spend $1,834 more on health care per year than adults with lesser NMDOH needs. Their food needs can have devastating consequences, contributing to the risk of and negative outcomes associated with several chronic conditions:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Hypertension
- Certain cancers
In particular, 65% of older individuals who are hospitalized are at risk of being malnourished and have worsening mobility, cognitive function and recovery from illness.
Food security as preventive care
Food insecurity isn’t just about access to nutritious food. It’s often hidden behind the more visible NMDOH challenges. Take a methodical approach to address NMDOH challenges in tandem across the care continuum.
Example: Facing limited resources, individuals experiencing food insecurity are more likely to forgo important things just to eat. Having to prioritize in this way creates trade-offs no one should have to make.
- Medication adherence: Members fail to fill or take prescriptions as directed due to a lack of food or money.
- Care continuity: Members skip doctor appointments, preventive care and follow-ups due to a lack of transportation.
Early intervention
Does your plan administer regular assessments? Identify the challenges that may impact members’ health via consistent NMDOH screenings, and take measures to refer them to appropriate follow-up resources.
Proactive support
Already have an idea of what your members are going through? Connect them to appropriate resources. Medicaid, in particular, supports programming such as:
- Nutrition counseling
- Meal delivery or food vouchers
- Medically tailored meals
Long-term impact
Addressing NMDOH saves time, money and member health compared to treating related complications later. Your plan’s efforts to support needs such as food insecurity shape a brighter outlook for plan members by mitigating the physical impacts of chronic conditions, reducing hospital admissions and more.
Example: Did you know that food pantry users reduce their health care utilization?
The role of member engagement in addressing food insecurity and beyond
Health plans are in a powerful position to solve food insecurity and NMDOH challenges as a whole. By providing the right type of engagement at the right time, you can build the rapport to empower and activate members toward real improvement.
Building trust
Genuine connections encourage members, so build a foundation of trust with your members by showing empathy and going beyond transactional interactions. When you do, they will feel at ease disclosing their needs, revealing additional concerns you were unaware of.
Example: A member reaches out for support with combating loneliness. Once you've provided tangible help for such a critical need, they are more likely to turn to you for comprehensive support.
Personalized outreach and education
Find your door opener to ongoing dialogue. Calls, texts or in-person visits from compassionate care coordinators help address NMDOH needs. Using food as a vehicle for engagement and providing personalized information about healthy eating shows members you support all of their needs, activating them to be proactive about their health.
Expand the conversation with Pyx Health
Food security is not only nutrition-based preventive care, but it’s also intricately tied to the full spectrum of NMDOH challenges. We see it in the Medicare member who neglects to take their medications because they’re too expensive or in the Medicaid member who doesn’t have a car to see their primary care physician. And everything from health outlooks to costs suffer for plans and members alike.
Pyx Health activates members in the moments that matter most, so the daily trade-offs become healthier choices, and awareness turns into measurable action. We offer not only compassionate engagement solutions for your members but also access to nutritious food boxes to close the gaps and open up the conversation about their broader needs. Contact us today to discuss ways to support your members.
