The Unassuming Economist

In a recent piece (2021), researchers at McKinsey & Company discuss the merits of a data-based approach to food security by tailoring nutritional offerings, and how building out partner networks can help payers realize the potential of food-support programs. They elaborate upon some of the recently adopted nutrition benefit programs by payers in the USA that have helped the society overcome major medical bumps, helped payers retain members and reduce costs.

The article then discusses some of the barriers to scaling up adoption of such nutritional benefit programs, including issues the need for accurate need assessment, designing proper interventions, forging stakeholder partnerships, and measuring and precise reporting of outcomes of the rolled out intervention properly to ensure ease of replication of a similar program elsewhere. On similar lines, it provides insights on how policymakers can overcome each of these barriers for improving health outcomes of the vulnerable communities, besides realizing tremendous social benefit in the form of reduced care costs.

Click here to read the full article.