God’s Love We Deliver Advocates on Capitol Hill: Fighting for Food Is Medicine

During our visit to Capitol Hill, we urged lawmakers to take action on three crucial issues:

The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act, was originally introduced in the 118th Congress and had both bipartisan and bicameral support. This bill would establish a pilot in Medicare to test the efficacy and cost-efficiency of Medically Tailored Meals for individuals who are chronically ill at 40 different hospital sites across rural, urban, and suburban landscapes. A pilot of this scale could be a landmark moment of change in the healthcare system’s understanding of the long-term impact of Medically Tailored Meals.

Medicaid serves as a lifeline for more than 80 million Americans, including those who rely on medically tailored meals to support their treatment and recovery. Through the New York State Medicaid 1115 Waiver, God’s Love has been able to provide innovative nutrition services that address an individual’s unique social needs that impact their health. These innovative program offerings in Medicaid serve as a testing ground to demonstrate the cost efficiency of these newly covered benefits. Protecting and strengthening Medicaid ensures that vulnerable populations continue to receive essential health services and support.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides comprehensive care and support services for people living with HIV. We emphasized the importance of maintaining and expanding funding for this program, which plays a vital role in improving health outcomes for those it serves. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program allows community-based providers, like ourselves, to deliver community-centered services that support the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS. It is also one of the very few federal grants that support our ability to provide Medically Tailored Meals to our community.

As a medically tailored meal provider with supporters across the political spectrum, God’s Love We Deliver understands that food is medicine is a bipartisan, cost-effective solution to a myriad of complex challenges within the healthcare system at large. Medically tailored meals not only improve the health outcomes of our clients but also reduce hospitalizations and overall health care costs.

These interventions are essential in creating health equity for individuals who are at high risk of food insecurity and malnutrition, especially for those who cannot shop or cook for themselves due to serious illness.

We were honored to share our work and the measurable impact of medically tailored meals with the offices of Congressman Tom Suozzi, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, Congressman Mike Lawler, and Senator Cory Booker. Their engagement in these discussions reinforces the growing recognition of nutrition as a key component of health care policy.

While our visit to D.C. was an important step, our advocacy does not stop here. This is a critical moment in time that requires our continued attention and advocacy. We will continue conversations from our home base in New York and look forward to expanding awareness and support for food is medicine interventions with all our New York State representatives. Through ongoing education and engagement, God’s Love and our partners at the Food is Medicine Coalition, are committed to ensuring that every individual across the United States facing severe illness has access to the nutrition they need to heal and thrive.