We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Amida Care, a pilot program offering home-delivered Medically Tailored Meals to their members living with HIV and other complex conditions. The In Lieu of Services (ILS) initiative is the first of its kind in New York State that incorporates Medically Tailored Meals.
Amida Care Inc is a not-for-profit health plan that specializes in providing comprehensive health coverage and coordinated care to New Yorkers with complex conditions, including HIV and behavioral health disorders, and people who are of transgender experience or homeless (regardless of HIV status). Amida Care has a wide network of health care providers throughout New York City and is the largest Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan (SNP) in New York State.
Poor nutrition is associated with a host of negative health outcomes and costly health care utilization trends, including inpatient costs, longer lengths of hospital stays, and higher rates of hospital readmissions. Recipients of Medically Tailored Meals report decreases in stress, more independent living, better management of their medical treatment, and learning how to eat more nutritiously. Recent pilot studies show up to a 28% drop in average health care costs for individuals battling life-threatening illness who received Medically Tailored Meals.
“Nutritious food is essential to better health outcomes and reducing health care expenses. It’s much harder for people to take their medications and make doctors’ appointments if they don’t know where their next meal will come from. A person can be fed for half a year for the cost of one day in a hospital,” said Doug Wirth, President & CEO of Amida Care. “This benefit will help improve the health and well-being of our members with nutritious meals based on their medical needs. We are delighted to be working with God’s Love We Deliver, an organization with an outstanding track record of providing healthy, medically tailored meals to New Yorkers living with HIV and other complex conditions. We hope the success of this program opens the door for other health plans to offer Medically Tailored Meals to their members.”
“We are thrilled to provide our delicious, medically tailored meals to Amida Care members,” says God’s Love President & CEO Karen Pearl.
Under this benefit, Medically Tailored Meals will be approved by a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). Members will undergo a nutritional assessment to address medical diagnoses, symptoms, allergies, medication management, and/or side effects, to ensure the best possible health outcomes. The service is voluntary for Amida Care members and plans can be adjusted by the RDN based on the member’s evolving medical needs.
Eligible Amida Care members must get a referral from their health care provider and be diagnosed with one or more serious or long-lasting illnesses; be unable to complete ordinary day-to-day tasks; and receive or be eligible to receive 20 hours per week or more of Personal Care Assistant services with time assigned for meal preparation. This service will be in place of time allotted for Personal Care Assistant meal preparation. The program has been approved by the New York State Department of Health under New York State Medicaid.