Author: JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF Health

Significant news about the “food as medicine” beneficiaries of Medicaid/Medical Insurance Advantage! Now, they can deliver fresh fruits and vegetables directly to their door, and they can use SNAP/EBT benefits to pay for them. Farm box receiver He is behind the establishment of this unprecedented partnership with the US Department of Agriculture, and here is a detailed explanation of why this is groundbreaking (and what precedent it can set for the food-and-drug movement in terms of payer support) founder and CEO Ashley Tyrner.

As Ashley explained, FarmboxRx’s deliveries of agricultural products have previously been underwritten by Medicare Advantage and Medicaid, but are limited to the limited “over-the-counter” health food benefits provided by these plans. In some states, the monthly net income of a family is only US$20-25. With the increase in SNAP/EBT funding, the available budget for these farm-to-table deliveries expanded to US$164-230 per month. A potential game changer.

We further unpacked Farmbox to understand the difference between them and Amazon and Wal-Mart. The latter also provides food stamps online, but does not provide products nationwide like Farmbox. Ashley described this initiative as having the ability to “eliminate the food desert overnight.” Regarding food insecurity, there are many ways FarmboxRx cooperates with health plans to use food as a tool for members to participate and build trust. Of course, the background story behind the business is basically BOOTSTRAPPED (with some risky debt) and fundraising series A.