Healthcare costs could go down in nearly every state with programs that deliver meals customized for people with conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, a new study finds. The meals could prevent chronic conditions from getting worse and lower the need for costly hospital visits and treatments, according to new data.
Findings were set to be presented Monday at NUTRITION 2024, the yearly meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, which ends Tuesday. The event is being held in Chicago.
Researchers looked at computer models to see how feasible it would be to deliver medically tailored meals (MTMs) to people with diet-sensitive conditions like diabetes and heart disease, who also had other physical limitations. The meals would be ready to eat, and would be delivered to the homes of enrollees. Similar programs have been proposed and pilot-tested in various areas, but haven’t taken off on a widespread basis in the United States.
The team found significant differences in cost savings among the various states in the US but noted a net cost savings in nearly every state.
“By conducting a comprehensive analysis that considers the diversity in state healthcare systems and patient demographics, the study highlights the potential financial benefits of MTMs,” Shuyue Deng, a doctoral student at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and lead author, said in a statement. “The preliminary results indicate MTMs could significantly reduce healthcare costs and hospitalizations in almost every state.”
The team evaluated data from about 7 million US adults with diet-sensitive chronic diseases. A computer simulation showed how implementing a program with MTMs could change annual healthcare costs. Investigators used research on previous MTM programs.
MTMs would generate net cost savings across all states except Alabama, the researchers noted. The largest projected net annual savings per patient were in Connecticut ($6,219), Pennsylvania ($4,370), Massachusetts ($4,251) and Arizona ($3,889). Oregon ($651) and Alabama ($-214) would likely see the lowest net annual cost savings per patient treated, the data showed.
Baseline healthcare costs and the number of people eligible for MTMs account for some of the differences in state-to-state projections.
The team also sought to find out which states had the most need. California has the largest number of patients who would be eligible for MTM treatment with more than 1,220,000 patients in need; Alaska has the smallest with about 17,800.
“These variations across states provide insights for state-level policymakers and health plan administrators,” Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, a cardiologist, public health scientist and Director of the Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School, said in the same statement. “Our new findings highlight the potential benefits of incorporating MTMs into state-level healthcare strategies, such as Medicaid 1115 waivers ‘in lieu of services,’ Medicare Shared Savings programs and Accountable Care Organizations, as well as commercial insurance plans.”
