For Immediate Release: 09/30/24
Contact: Wesley Story
wstory@feedingtexas.org
Feeding Texas Network and 70+ Partner Organizations Prioritize “Food Is Medicine” Solutions for 2025 Legislative Session
Food insecurity is intrinsically linked to poor health care outcomes.
TEXAS – As Hunger Action Month wraps up, Feeding Texas joins our network of 20 food banks and a coalition of more than 70 partner organizations to announce our commitment to advancing “Food is Medicine” solutions in the 2025 Texas legislative session. Food is Medicine (FIM) programs use food-based interventions to help prevent, manage, and treat specific health conditions.
“Nutrition and health are deeply connected,” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, the state association of food banks. “Individuals facing food insecurity are more likely to experience adverse health effects and face barriers to accessing necessary health services. Food insecurity is associated with higher rates of chronic and diet-related diseases and when someone is sick, having to choose between food and treatment can lead to serious complications. Understanding this connection is crucial for developing comprehensive strategies to improve both food security and health care outcomes in our state.”
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 1575 into law in June 2023. The bill recognizes that non-medical factors impact health outcomes and requires that pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries be screened for non-medical needs. It also offers case management services to connect those beneficiaries with non-medical resources in the community. In response to the new law, starting this month, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) in Texas began using screening questions developed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to assess the non-medical needs of their pregnant patients.
HB 1575 strengthens the way Medicaid can be used to identify and impact underlying, non-medical issues such as nutrition, housing, transportation, and more. The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Lacey Hull and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and its passage came after HHSC released an action plan to address non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) through Medicaid & CHIP.
“In the 2023 legislative session, Texas lawmakers recognized the importance of addressing non-medical drivers of health and took action to improve health outcomes for pregnant patients,” Cole said. “HB 1575 was a promising step in the right direction, as is HHSC’s action plan. We are hopeful the synergy we’ve seen around these solutions will carry into the 2025 session. Feeding Texas will support strategies meant to continue this groundbreaking work with the goal of reducing food insecurity and increasing access to nutritious foods to help Medicaid beneficiaries manage chronic conditions and diet-related illnesses.”
FIM solutions have been identified as a top priority by the Feeding Texas network and the Texas Food Policy Roundtable (TFPR), a coalition of more than 70 organizations dedicated to ending hunger. Feeding Texas plans to support two primary FIM strategies in the 2025 legislative session, including Medicaid 1115 Waivers and “In Lieu of Services” (ILOS) provisions.
Medicaid 1115 Waivers are demonstration projects that give states flexibility to test policy approaches with the potential to improve services to Medicaid populations. ILOS is a provision that can be added to Medicaid contracts that allow MCOs to substitute Health-Related Social Needs (HRSNs) for traditional medical care.
“Creating a healthy Texas requires a healthcare system that takes a holistic approach to treating patients and addresses health-related needs beyond just medicine,” Cole said. “Food banks have operated in this space for years and have a track record of developing successful programs with local healthcare organizations to serve community members. Further integrating nutrition into our healthcare system would enable doctors to prescribe healthy food that food banks can provide through a streamlined Medicaid reimbursement model. This would simplify the process for patients, scale already-existing food bank infrastructure, and could significantly lower healthcare costs over time.”
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Feeding Texas is a network of 20 food banks and leads a unified effort for a hunger-free Texas. Learn more and find your local food bank at www.feedingtexas.org.