The Cost of Addressing Food Insecurity: An Economic Analysis of the Implementation of a Hospital-Based Medical Food Pantry

Abstract

Background: This study compares the cost of implementing a Medical Food Pantry (MFP) serving food insecure (FIS) patients to the predicted hospital utilization costs incurred in the absence of a MFP by FIS patients. Methods: This case-control study utilized propensity score matching was usedto match patients identified as FIS who received a voucher to a MFP to individuals in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to estimate healthcare utilization and costs. Participants were patients identified as food insecure during an in-patient stay who received a voucher for an emergency tailored food bag: carb controlled, sodium controlled, general healthful between June 2018-July 2019. Patients were grouped based on redemption status (redeemed a voucher (RV) =206, did not redeem (NRV) =336). Results: FIS patients who did not redeem a voucher had higher average cost per inpatient visit compared to those who redeemed their voucher (RV: $13,464.87 vs. NRV: $15,238.63). They also had higher aggregate annual expenditures (RV: $46,112.52 vs. NRV: $50,071.59). The total cost of the MFP was estimated to be $300 per patient voucher redeemed resulting in estimated savings cost saving of $1773.76 per inpatient visit or $3,959.07 per year in healthcare cost. Conclusions: While our previous work showed that a hospital-based MFP was associated with lower hospital readmissions, this research suggests that the cost of addressing nutritional risks through a hospital-based MFP is feasible and cost-effective.