CDPHP includes home-delivered meals in Medicare Advantage plans

Health insurer CDPHP is working with Ankeny, Iowa–based Mom’s Meals to offer home-delivered meals “at no cost” to Medicare Advantage members returning home from a stay in a hospital.

CDPHP is an Albany–based, nonprofit health plan serving more than 385,000 members in 29 counties in upstate New York. The counties include Broome, Tioga, Chenango, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Madison, and Oneida, per its website. 

Mom’s Meals, a provider of home-delivered meals nationwide, offers “nutritional and condition-appropriate” meals delivered to the homes of CDPHP members who will require additional support after returning home from the hospital, per a Jan. 5 news release. The benefit seeks to address “food insecurity concerns and reduce caregiver burden,” CDPHP said. 

The nutrition benefit is now available to all CDPHP Medicare Advantage members.

Studies consistently show that “medically tailored” meals support patient recovery after hospitalization and reduce instances of readmission, as well as help patients manage chronic conditions, avoid hospitalizations, and preserve health and independence, the health insurer noted. 

Programs implemented through Mom’s Meals have seen up to an 80-percent reduction in inpatient stays 30 days post-discharge. The statistic is based on a study from the AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia and Mom’s Meals program that analyzed 138 members for 30 days who were enrolled in the program between Nov. 1, 2017 and Feb. 7, 2018, per the CDPHP release.

“This partnership is an important extension of an in-hospital program CDPHP launched in 2019, which works to ensure our members are prepared for a successful transition from hospital to home,” Dr. John Bennett, president and CEO of CDPHP, said. “By offering Mom’s Meals, we give our Medicare Advantage members the nutritional support they need to make a meaningful recovery.”