Food Insecurity Hits Disabled and Vulnerable Medicare Enrollees

Medicare’s move to allow home-delivered meals as a supplemental benefit next year may be just what the doctor ordered.

An estimated 40% of Medicare enrollees under age 65 with a physical or mental impairment experienced food insecurity—the financial inability to get adequate nutrition—at some point in the last year, according to a study published Sept. 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine. That compares with just 9% of beneficiaries age 65 and over.

“The pervasive food insecurity across segments within the disabled group is striking,” read the report authored by researchers at Northeastern and Harvard universities.

The findings come as some private ...