Food For Thought: Addressing Food Insecurity

Diet and nutrition are once again a hot topic (aren’t they always in one way or another?). Even before that Super Bowl ad, Americans have been reconsidering what they eat and increasingly focusing on whole foods (see Trend 6). However, at the same time, nearly 14% of households in the U.S. are food insecure*, the highest level in almost a decade. When having food at all is a concern, whether it is fresh and healthy is secondary.

Increasingly, health plans are stepping in with layered approaches to address food insecurity, and the results are a win-win for payers and members alike. Programs addressing access and education around nutrition have shown improvement in managing conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, reducing the likelihood of costly care or hospital stays down the line.

Blue Cross NC has been a proponent of Food is Medicine programs. After successfully piloting programs targeted toward members with diabetes, it has expanded its programs with investment from state and local government and national foundations. The programs are particularly successful because of the support of community-based organizations that help engage members. Recently, Kaiser Permanente announced a Food is Medicine Center of Excellence to expand its program with more member screenings, provider training, and identification of new scalable approaches to address food insecurity.

Other health plans are tackling the issue with creative solutions to improve access. At CVS Health, in addition to Food Is Medicine programs, the company is leveraging its footprint to support urban gardening and redirect food waste from its locations to increase access to nutrition. UnitedHealthcare’s efforts are bringing access to fresh, healthy food in high-need areas by hosting community farmers markets in Washington D.C. and mobile grocery markets in Detroit.

While the country is increasingly focused on nutrition, so too are payers to help American households facing food insecurity. All health plans will need to offer targeted programs to address nutrition access and education as part of a holistic effort to manage healthcare costs now and in the future.

*Low food security is defined as people experiencing reduced quality and variety of diet and, in very low food security, disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.