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May 11, 2023
Keeping Food is Medicine at the Forefront of Conversations
We are at a pivotal moment in the Food is Medicine movement. Last September, the White House convened only the second in history (and first in 50 years) Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, providing a platform to highlight the power of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling. The research demonstrating the effectiveness of medically tailored meals is clear. Access to proper nutrition, especially those at acute nutritional risk from serious illness, can lower healthcare costs and reduce hospitalizations. We must keep these conversations and support of policy efforts around coverage for medically tailored meals at the forefront of our work.
By hosting or participating in national and regional events such as the White House Conference and the MANNA-hosted Legislative Open House in December, we have the opportunity to further the conversation on the importance of making medically tailored meals a standard benefit under public health plans. Last month, MANNA representatives participated in three important events to discuss MANNA’s services, the importance of similar Food is Medicine efforts, and the field’s impact on healthcare outcomes and costs.
Nutrition Roundtable with Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD
On April 21, MANNA’s Director of Nutrition & Client Services, Nicole Laverty, RDN, LDN, attended a nutrition roundtable with US Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD. At the roundtable, Nicole was part of discussions centered around hunger and nutrition policy, nutritional trends, how to work more holistically with clients, and what role the federal government can play in these topics. The attendees included representatives from Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, Philabundance, Philadelphia School District, The Food Trust, Share Food Program, Mazzoni Center, Bebashi, Garces Foundation, and The Philadelphia Department of Health and Human Services.
Nicole highlighted the important role of Food as Medicine programs and the need for more support to provide equitable access to services like MANNA’s. She also discussed H.R. 5370 — The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meal Demonstration Pilot Act of 2021 and stressed support for the reintroduction of this bill to bring it to fruition. Lastly, Nicole talked about the various research projects being spearheaded by The MANNA Institute and how the data and outcomes from these projects are catalysts for expanding MANNA’s services in order to help more individuals.
Food is Medicine National Summit: Transforming Healthcare
On April 26, I attended and participated in the Food Is Medicine (FIM) National Summit, hosted by The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute at Tufts University. The Summit was supported by Kaiser Permanente, Bia-Echo Foundation, the HAND Foundation, Seeding the Future, and The Rockefeller Foundation.
The FIM Summit brought together more than 225 in-person and over 1,000 online healthcare system leaders, providers, investors, policymakers, and patients with lived experience. The schedule featured keynote speakers, panel discussions, and conversations centered around reimbursable, food-based health interventions.
My panel “How Community Centered Programs are Building the Infrastructure” explored how community-based Food is Medicine programs — like MANNA — serve as a key source of best practices and evidence to inform larger scale expansion. It was exciting to be in a room where the conversation was focused on how to implement medically tailored meals into our healthcare systems and not why medically tailored meals are needed. There is increasing focus on food-based nutrition interventions in healthcare, however most of these interventions are part of disease prevention strategies. In contrast, medically tailored meals are finally being recognized as a critical component of disease treatment and we must continue to lead the way for this service to become a covered benefit under health insurance.
Local Roundtable with Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon
On May 3, MANNA’s Nutrition & Client Services Manager, Tonya Cooper, RDN, LDN participated in a roundtable aimed at investigating the impact of February’s end of SNAP Emergency Allotments on local communities in the Greater Philadelphia area. Hosted by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, members from nonprofit agencies including MANNA, Philabundance, the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition (SEAMAAC), Delaware County of Aging, Delaware WIC, and others convened to generate deeper understanding around the end of this policy, which caused an estimated two million Pennsylvanians to lose an average of $181 a month in nutrition assistance. Unsurprisingly, in March of this year, we saw a 26% increase in referrals to our program.
Tonya emphasized that, while MANNA’s program covers acute nutritional needs as a result of serious illness, in the last few years we have seen an uptick in clients with chronic conditions that will require a lifetime of nutritional support. Since the onset of COVID-19, MANNA has sustained a 40% increase in clients served annually. A growing percentage of these clients live with chronic conditions such as end-stage renal disease and severe diabetes. Nearly all our clients (95%) are low-income. As Tonya explained to Congresswoman Scanlon, providing medically tailored meals as a universal, covered benefit within healthcare would allow for more equitable, sustainable, long-term access to this vital treatment resource for more critically ill clients in need.
Conclusion
Each month, we are another step closer to informing and, hopefully soon establishing, policies that increase access to better and proper nutrition for all. We will continue to host, lead, and participate in events to highlight the importance of medically tailored meals, educate and learn from our peers, gather evidence, and advocate for the change we need to see in our healthcare system.
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April 13, 2023
Medically Tailored Meals: One Step Closer to Becoming a Covered Service in Pennsylvania
One of the greatest challenges people battling serious illness experience is access to nutritious food, due to a combination of factors including affordability, education, and environment. Yet, many health conditions require proper nutrition as part of their treatment plan. For more than 30 years MANNA has strived to meet the nutrition needs of our critically ill neighbors by developing and providing specialized diets–medically tailored meals (MTMs)– as well as access to nutrition education from MANNA Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. In fact, research continues to point to the correlation between nutrition and overall health, as well as the significant healthcare savings our country would see if MTMs became a mandated, covered benefit. Through our own original research, we found that our clients’ average monthly healthcare costs were approximately $13,000 less after starting our program — a 31% cost savings. In addition, those clients’ rate of hospitalization was 50% lower, and those who were hospitalized had stays that were 37% shorter.
As a result of the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, there is an increasing national focus on MTMs. Each day we feel one step closer to policies that increase access to better nutrition for all — especially today. We are excited to share that a bill to establish a Medically Tailored Meals Pilot Program across the state of Pennsylvania has officially been introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as House Bill 667 (HB 667). The program would allow hospitals statewide to refer qualified individuals for MTM programs and nutrition counseling, which would greatly increase ease of access to better nutrition. HB 667 was introduced along with a companion resolution encouraging health insurers to provide coverage for MTMs for Pennsylvania beneficiaries.
The Importance of this Bill
At MANNA, we’ve long understood the impact MTMs can have on individuals and their health. Over the years, MANNA has advocated for policy changes to get MTMs recognized as a mandated covered benefit, and HB 667 is one major step in the right direction. This bill would encourage the use of MTMs and nutrition counseling to help those battling serious illness improve nutrition and avoid hospital admissions or readmissions. If HB 667 is passed, it will show that by providing MTMs to those who need it, we can lower hospital admissions, improve health outcomes, and save money. At a time when food insecurity is high and access to care is low for so many of our residents, insurance coverage of these prescribed diets could go a long way to providing the health benefit that all Pennsylvanians should be afforded.
We Need YOU to Help Pass HB 667, the Medically Tailored Meals Pilot Program
We are one step closer to creating a healthcare system that recognizes the healing efforts of proper food and nutrition for all. The time is now to transform America’s healthcare system, and we urge you to help join our fight and contact your elected officials, especially if your legislator is a member of the Committee on Human Services, to support the passing of HB 667.
We’d like to express our sincere thanks to Representative Donna Johnson Bullock and all those who co-sponsored this important legislation. We are grateful for their leadership in recognizing the importance of MTMs and nutrition education for many of their constituents and championing this important legislation to ensure access to all PA residents who need it. We are excited to see more states continue to recognize the power of Food as Medicine can’t wait to see what the months ahead hold.
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March 16, 2023
National Nutrition Month®: Looking Back at the Last 30 Years of Nutrition and Forward to a Healthier Future
March marks National Nutrition Month® — an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to educate Americans about the value of nutrition — and this year’s theme of Fuel for the Future focuses on creating healthy habits that are sustainable and celebrate people’s unique needs. Poor nutrition is a leading cause of illness in the U.S., with a disproportionate effect on certain socioeconomic groups. The observance of National Nutrition Month each year brings heightened awareness of food, nutrition, and health issues to communities across the country.
Addressing these issues has been at the core of our work at MANNA for more than three decades. During that time, our team of registered dietitians, chefs, drivers, and thousands of volunteers has strived to improve the health and well-being of our clients battling serious illnesses by preparing, packaging, and delivering medically tailored meals (MTMs) and providing personalized nutrition counseling. Throughout our journey, MANNA and the Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC) have continued to advocate for policy change for MTMs to be recognized as treatment and be a covered benefit at the state and federal level.
Looking Back at the Last 30 Years
MANNA was founded during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and we have always understood and believed in the idea of prescribing nutritious foods to patients suffering from chronic illnesses to improve their health and quality of life. Since our founding, we have provided nourishment to our critically ill neighbors; and, as our knowledge of utilizing Food as Medicine deepened, our program evolved to include MTMs and nutrition counseling.
After recognizing the widespread need for our services, MANNA began serving anyone at nutritional risk due to critical illness in 2006. Since then, MANNA has served clients with more than 127 primary diseases. Our program has improved the health and quality of life of more than 40,000 of our Philadelphia-area neighbors with more than 21,000,000 medically nourishing meals served. Every day, we witness firsthand the effect proper nutrition has on those who need it most. Here are just a few of MANNA’s milestones:
- 1999: With the advancements of HIV medications, MANNA shifted from comfort care to treatment
- 2006: MANNA expanded to serve all illnesses that require nutrition to heal and was the first organization to provide complete nutrition of 21 meals per week
- 2013: MANNA published first-of-its-kind research showing the impact that MTMs and nutrition education have on health outcomes and reduction in healthcare costs
- 2015: MANNA signed its first contract with a health insurer to receive reimbursement for MTMs and nutrition education for clients
- 2019: MANNA launched the MANNA Institute to support more data in the field of MTMs and nutrition education
In particular, the latter half of 2022 was significant for MANNA and our mission to improve the health of those we serve. In September, MANNA participated in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, showing the support of launching an effort to increase the number of Medicaid pilot programs and passage of federal legislation that would allow traditional Medicare plans to offer MTMs as a reimbursable medical expense. A new study in JAMA Network Open – Association of National Expansion of Insurance Coverage of Medically Tailored Meals with Estimated Hospitalizations and Healthcare Expenditures in the US – was released in October, revealing that economic modeling showed that MTMs are associated with lower costs of care for patients with diet-related illness and activity limitations. The study demonstrates the power of MTMs if implemented nationwide: 1.5M fewer hospitalizations and a net cost savings of $13.6 billion in the first year. Finally, in December, MANNA hosted a Legislative Open House that was cohosted by Representative Donna Bullock and Congressman Dwight Evans, which included a discussion of MANNA’s mission, services, and our impact on healthcare outcomes and costs. From this Open House, Representative Donna Bullock is putting forth a proposal to push for a Medically Tailored Meals Pilot Program that will allow hospitals to provide eligible medical assistance beneficiaries with these prescribed meals and nutrition counseling.
Approaching A Healthier Future
Every March, we look forward to National Nutrition Month® as another opportunity to spread the word that Food is Medicine. The Food is Medicine movement has gained so much momentum over the years, and now it’s making its way into mainstream medicine. National attention is focused on MTMs and our urgent work is more important than ever, especially at a time when food insecurity is high and access to care is low for so many. Our research shows that MTMs lower healthcare costs, improve health outcomes, and keep our neighbors living with an illness out of the hospital.
Each day, we are one step closer to policies that increase access to better nutrition for all. We will continue to establish new partnerships, lead and participate in new research studies that support our Food is Medicine mission, and serve as an advocate for all who require nutrition to heal, now and in the future, so that one day we have a healthcare system that recognizes the effects of and takes action to facilitate proper nutrition for all.
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