Nutrition is foundational to health, yet food insecurity remains a persistent challenge for families across the United States, with 13.7% of U.S. households affected.1 For people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes, reliable access to nutritious food can directly influence health outcomes. Among UnitedHealthcare Community & State members, food insecurity is one of the most commonly identified social needs. In 2025 alone, more than 38% of Community & State members identified insufficient food as a primary need. This is especially important as diet-related chronic conditions account for at least 85% of the nation’s annual health care spending.2 Recognizing the impact of nutrition on long-term health, UnitedHealthcare Community & State is expanding its food is medicine initiatives to address food insecurity and support improved diabetes outcomes among Medicaid members.
Food is medicine in action
Food is medicine programs treat nutrition as a clinical intervention, supporting both the prevention and management of chronic disease. Diabetes management, in particular, is heavily influenced by social drivers that impact health. Food insecurity can drive cycles of inconsistent eating patterns, reliance on low-cost processed foods and difficulty adhering to medically recommended diets. To address these challenges, UnitedHealthcare Community & State has implemented diabetes-focused programs across several states. These programs provide medically tailored meals alongside nutrition and care coordination support, typically including:
- Up to two medically tailored meals per day
- An eight-week program duration
- Support from registered dietitians
- Connections to additional resources such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) services
These programs are designed to help members with diabetes stabilize blood glucose levels, improve nutrition literacy and reduce barriers to healthy eating. Early insights from these programs are reinforcing the impact that food can have on improving health outcomes. As one program leader noted:
"With regards to diabetes outcomes, we've actually seen that the meals alone are having greater impact than education or even medication management counseling."
Early outcomes show measurable outcomes
While food is medicine programs continue to evolve, early results from several state initiatives demonstrate promising clinical improvements in diabetes outcomes and health care utilization.
In Nebraska, participants in a diabetes-focused program experienced:
- A 2.1% reduction in A1C within six months
- 100% of participants maintaining or improving their diabetes risk level
- An average weight reduction of 4.3 pounds
Similarly, a program in Pennsylvania has shown encouraging outcomes. Among participants:
- 54% reduced their A1C levels
- 80% experienced reduced emergency room utilization
Additional state programs are showing similar momentum. In Kentucky, members who completed the diabetes program saw improvements in A1C, while in Nevada, one diabetes-focused initiative reported a 17.5% decrease in A1C along with increased engagement in case management. These multi-year programs are designed to better understand how targeted nutrition interventions can support long-term chronic disease management and reduce avoidable utilization over time.
Strengthening the evidence base through collaboration
To further advance this work, UnitedHealthcare Community & State has begun collaborating with the American Heart Association’s Health Care by Food Initiative to evaluate and refine its food is medicine programs. This collaboration will help bring additional scientific rigor to the evaluation process and support broader evidence development across the health care system. Together, the organizations aim to standardize evaluation metrics across programs, co-author research and publish findings on program outcomes and refine program design based on measurable results.
The collaboration will also explore questions about how nutrition programs can be structured for maximum impact, including:
- What is the optimal program length for sustained outcomes?
- How do meal-only models compare with hybrid approaches that combine meals with education or counseling?
- What are the long-term effects on health care utilization, costs and condition management?
By generating stronger evidence, these efforts can help inform future Medicaid program design and guide broader adoption of effective nutrition interventions.
Why this work matters now
The importance of food is medicine initiatives is becoming increasingly clear as changes in program eligibility coupled with rising costs may create challenges for some families who are already having difficulty making ends meet. At the same time, policymakers and health leaders are placing greater emphasis on preventing chronic disease and addressing social factors that impact health.
Nutrition intersects with many aspects of well-being, influencing chronic disease management, child development, older adult stability and community resilience. By addressing food insecurity as part of comprehensive care, health plans and community collaborators can help reduce health challenges while supporting stronger long-term outcomes.
Building the future of food is medicine
Food is one of the most fundamental drivers of health, shaping physical well-being, disease management and overall quality of life. Through data-driven food as medicine programs and its collaboration with the American heart Association's Health Care by Food Initiative, UnitedHealthcare Community & State is working to build the evidence needed to scale these interventions more broadly. By investing in nutrition access today and continuing to evaluate what works best, managed care organizations can help reduce the burden of chronic disease, improve health outcomes and strengthen communities for the long term.
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