Does Medicare Cover Meal Delivery? 

Seniors who want to age at home often find it difficult to take care of daily tasks like shopping and preparing meals. Even if you have the best of intentions to eat healthy meals every day, many seniors have health issues that hinder them from reaching this goal.

Mobility problems can make walking around a grocery store or standing in the kitchen to cook difficult. Once you get groceries home, the loss of strength can make simple tasks like carrying bags of groceries or opening containers unmanageable. Vision problems can encumber reading recipes, labels, or preparing food safely. Cognitive decline can turn simple housekeeping tasks into impossible and even dangerous ones. 

The loss of taste or smell often negatively affects a person’s appetite and may affect your motivation to cook. Depression or other mental health issues may keep you from taking part in regular activities you once found enjoyable. 

Getting help is important when you are struggling to age at home. Understanding how Medicare or other programs may offer assistance may help you plan ahead.

Getting help from meal delivery services

A loss of independence could trigger feelings of despair and frustration, but there are ways to get assistance. If you want to remain independent in your own home, but you can’t go food shopping or prepare your meals anymore, you might consider signing up for a meal delivery service. 

There are many different programs geared toward providing ready-made meals to seniors in their own homes, but probably the most well-known is Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels was founded in 1972 by the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program to reduce hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The program also continues to promote socialization and work to improve the health and well-being of the elderly. 

Meals on Wheels and other meal delivery services can be found across the country, but their services aren’t covered by all Medicare insurance plans. While Original Medicare Part A and Part B do not include meal delivery services, some Medicare Advantage plans include additional food allowance and/or meal delivery coverage for enrollees who qualify.

Does Medicare cover meal delivery services? 

Unfortunately, Original Medicare Parts A (hospital insurance) and B (medical insurance) don’t cover meal delivery services to your home. Medicare Part A covers meals during any inpatient stay in a Medicare-affiliated hospital, and Medicare Part B covers nutrition and dietary counseling for those who qualify. 

However, if you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, you might have access to coverage for meal delivery services as an additional benefit. If you qualify for approved meal delivery services offered by a Medicare Advantage plan, your coverage may be limited to a set number of meals and a set length of time. Your benefits may depend on your diagnosis of a chronic condition, your circumstances following a hospital or skilled nursing facility stay, and what plan you’re enrolled in.

Medicare Advantage Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNP) and Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNP) may cover meal delivery services after you’ve had a qualifying inpatient hospital or skilled nursing facility stay. 

If you’re not sure whether your Medicare plan offers coverage for meal delivery, you should contact your provider for information. 

How much does meal delivery cost without Medicare coverage? 

If your Medicare Advantage plan doesn’t include coverage for meal delivery services, you might need to pay out-of-pocket. Your daily costs depend on where you live, which service you use, the meals you choose, and whether there’s an additional shipping charge. The national average cost for delivered meals from private companies is approximately $8.00 per meal, but this amount doesn’t include shipping fees. 

For Meals on Wheels, the cost to produce and deliver a meal is between $6 and $7, but because the program is subsidized, low-income seniors can contribute an amount that is commensurate with their income. In most cases, a donation of $3 per meal is the norm.