Hawaiʻi set to offer nutrition support services to Medicaid patients

Medicaid patients may soon benefit from a five-year federal waiver that allows Hawaiʻi MedQUEST program to use Medicaid dollars to expand services with community-based food and nutrition organizations.

Section 1115 of the Social Security Act gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to approve experimental, pilot or demonstration projects that are likely to advance to Medicaid goals and objectives. The demonstrations aim to give states more flexibility to evaluate state-specific policies to better serve Medicaid populations.

The five-year waiver allows the state of Hawaiʻi to try out new or innovative approaches to delivering healthcare services that differ from what is normally allowed under federal rules. For example, for the first time, Hawaiʻi’s waiver now authorizes Medicaid coverage of “nutrition support services,” acknowledging the widely accepted notion that “food is medicine.”

“‘Food Is Medicine’ is shorthand for a movement that aims to integrate food and nutrition into the modern healthcare system to prevent, manage and treat various illnesses,” said Daniela Spoto, Hawaiʻi Appleseed director of Food Equity. “Sustaining the community-driven programs that have been advancing this philosophy in the long term will require integrating them into our modern healthcare system. That’s what this waiver helps to achieve.”