This video is adapted from 10.3390/healthcare13222899
This video examines how poor nutrition drives chronic disease, health disparities, and rising health care costs in the United States, focusing on medically tailored meals (MTMs) as a Food-as-Medicine intervention. Designed by registered dietitians, MTMs have demonstrated potential to improve clinical outcomes and reduce expenditures. Through a narrative review of peer-reviewed studies, real-world program evaluations, and policy analyses—including sources from PubMed, Google Scholar, and grey literature—this video synthesizes evidence on the clinical, economic, and policy implications of MTMs. Findings show that MTMs improve health outcomes, reduce hospitalizations, and lower total cost of care, with case studies from Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans, such as those administered by Mom’s Meals®, reporting fewer emergency department visits, lower hospital readmission rates, and high member satisfaction. Despite this evidence, gaps in coverage and limited stakeholder awareness continue to restrict broader access. This video highlights opportunities for federal policy action, including establishing a Medicare Fee-for-Service demonstration, expanding MTM use in Medicare Advantage, and integrating MTMs into Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation models. Broader implementation and utilization of MTMs, as explored in this video, could help reduce the nation’s chronic disease burden, advance health equity, and support value-based care.