Rx: Zucchini, Brown Rice, Turkey Soup. Medicaid Plan Offers Food As Medicine
PHILADELPHIA — Feliciano Pagan stood at his front door when the MANNA food truck pulled up to his two-story brick row home.
Pagan, 48, greeted the driver with a smile as he carried in two large bags filled with frozen dinners and fresh fruit that would last a week. Among the goods were chicken fajitas with brown rice and zucchini; chicken dumplings, carrots and beets; and sweet-and-sour pork chops with turkey noodle soup.
These medically tailored meals — all with limited salt and carbohydrates — are designed to keep Pagan, who has congestive heart failure, out of the hospital. Health Partners Plans, the nonprofit company that runs the Medicaid health plan Pagan belongs to, is betting on it.
