Meals on Wheels is a wonderful program that's been delivering meals to seniors for over 50 years in the Portland area and beyond. A few years ago, a hospital had asked if they would be able to expand their service to include providing meal delivery for people with chronic medical conditions like diabetes and heart disease. They whole heartedly agreed to help and since that time, the data has shown that people with chronic medical conditions who receive "medically tailored meals" were actually 50% less likely to be admitted to hospital when compared with people who did not receive meals... and the cost of healthcare for the folks that received the medically tailored meals was significantly lower.
"Research compiled by the Food is Medicine Coalition, a research and advocacy group, shows that only six months of dietary interventions such as medically tailored meals can reduce overall medical costs by 16%, or $220 per month per patient. That’s a result of 58% fewer emergency department visits, 49% fewer hospital admissions and 72% fewer nursing home admissions."
The federal government’s recent approval of Oregon’s request to modify its Medicaid program, the joint federal-state health insurance program for people with low incomes, will likely help expand coverage for medically tailored meals to Medicare recipients, which will work wonders for helping those in our community to THRIVE! 
For more information and to read the article, head over to https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/r...-out-of-the-hospital.
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