Food is Medicine (FIM) integrates diet and nutrition supports into traditional health care to help manage and prevent chronic, diet-related conditions like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Strategies like medically tailored meals, produce prescriptions, and nutritional counseling can both improve outcomes and reduce health care costs. Today, many Medicaid agencies are implementing FIM through a range of federal pathways — and seeing promising outcomes.

This Medicaid FYI from the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) highlights FIM’s growing role in Medicaid, including pathways to coverage, alignment with nutrition security programs like SNAP and WIC, and other opportunities for states.

Medicaid FYI is a series of explainers from CHCS offering clear insights to help states, health plans, providers, and policymakers improve the quality and efficiency of Medicaid.