Medically tailored grocery programs for health plans
Morrissey Market designs, packs, and delivers custom medically tailored grocery boxes for health plans, care management organizations, and digital health partners — from pilot to statewide scale. As 1115 waivers expand across the country, we help payers launch Food is Medicine benefits with culturally appropriate, condition-specific food for Medicaid and Medicare members.
Let us help you launch and scale Food is Medicine programs in your state.
Clinical tailoring
- Condition-specific menus designed with registered dietitians: wellness, diabetic, cardiac, renal, and vegetarian
- A seasonal, rotating menu with culturally appropriate options
- Produce sourced from local and US farms, delivered 3x fresher than a retail grocer
New York HRSN and Social Care Networks
New York’s 1115 waiver created a Medicaid benefit for health-related social needs, and Social Care Networks are the contracting path for it. We fulfill the nutrition side: medically tailored grocery boxes and produce prescription boxes built to the state’s HYPNAP choice requirements, verified per menu, and shipped to the member’s door in one to two days statewide.
If you are standing up an HRSN nutrition benefit in New York, or you are an SCN looking for a box partner who already builds to the state standard, start here: New York HRSN food programs.
How programs launch:
- Your clinical team (or ours) sets diet types and box contents; sample boxes ship before launch
- Closed-loop referrals and eligibility files that plug into your care management software
- Program reporting built for outcomes tracking and health outcomes ROI, with price stability as you scale
Medicare Advantage, D-SNP, and PACE
Food benefits reach members through more than Medicaid managed care. We fulfill boxes for supplemental benefit programs on the Medicare side, including special supplemental benefits for the chronically ill under D-SNP and Medicare Advantage plans, and for PACE organizations serving dually eligible members at home.
The build is the same and the constraints are different. D-SNP and Medicare Advantage supplemental food benefits run on a defined allowance, so the box has to hit a per-box cost that holds across a plan year. PACE programs run smaller panels with heavier clinical tailoring and more renal and cardiac diets. We price and build for both.
Custom Produce & Grocery Programs
- Curated produce or grocery box programs
- Culturally appropriate food available
- Medically tailored grocery program
- Produce prescription fulfillment
- Reimbursable under Section 1115 waivers, in-lieu-of-services benefits, and state Food is Medicine programs
Delivery & Shipping
- Local delivery throughout New England for last-mile service.
- Nationwide FedEx doorstep delivery from East and West Coast fulfillment centers
- Cold-chain packing, food safety compliance, and delivery-issue resolution handled by our team
Outcomes and evidence
Health plans buying food benefits need numbers, not narratives. The evidence behind the model we power: MassHealth’s Flexible Services nutrition program (the Section 1115 model) was associated with 23% fewer hospitalizations and 13% fewer ED visits (Hager et al., Health Affairs, 2024).
Morrissey Market provides the medically tailored groceries for the Synergy Initiative pilot with Community Servings, funded by the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, with produce sourced through Central Massachusetts farms.
The work continues: our groceries are being evaluated in a 300-participant randomized controlled trial led by UMass Chan Medical School researchers. Every program includes reporting on delivery completion, substitutions, and member engagement, structured for your health outcomes ROI analysis.
Frequently asked questions from health plans
What conditions do your medically tailored grocery programs serve?
Programs are built around the qualifying conditions your benefit defines. Our current diet tracks cover wellness, diabetes, cardiac, renal, and vegetarian needs, plus allergen-friendly and kids’ options. Registered dietitians design each track, and boxes are built to your state’s serving standards for medically tailored groceries.
Can you source locally grown food for our state's program?
Yes, and we design for it. We integrate produce from partner farms in the states where programs run, so program dollars stay with in-state growers and members get fresher food in season. For state-funded benefits, local sourcing is more than a quality decision. It keeps public dollars working inside the state economy, and we can structure the box build around it from day one.
How do referrals and enrollment work?
Your care team identifies eligible members. We accept closed-loop referrals, eligibility files, and encrypted member intake, and we plug into your care management workflow and reporting cadence. We do not require members to submit clinical documentation. Eligibility stays with your program, fulfillment stays with us.
Which Medicaid pathways do your programs run under?
Morrissey Market fulfills programs funded through Section 1115 demonstration waivers, including NYHER in New York and MassHealth Flexible Services under the Massachusetts HRSN 1115 waiver, as well as in-lieu-of-services benefits, produce prescription funds, and state Food is Medicine initiatives. We price to state fee schedules and plan-set rates.
What reporting do health plans receive?
Program-level reporting on delivery completion, substitutions, damage resolution, and member engagement, structured to support your quality metrics and ROI analysis. Reporting cadence and format follow your plan’s requirements.
How quickly can a program launch?
Quickly, because we’re not starting from scratch. We’ve launched programs for health plans, statewide waiver benefits, community-based organizations, and digital health platforms, and each launch reuses proven box builds, intake templates, and shipping lanes. Your program benefits from everything the last one taught us.
Do members pay anything?
No. Programs are funded by the plan, waiver, or grant that covers the benefit. We bill the program, never the member.
Where do you deliver?
Nationwide home delivery from East Coast and West Coast fulfillment centers, including rural addresses. Boxes ship with cold-chain packing and shipping-stable items selected for transit time, and our team resolves delivery issues directly.
Can you match a menu our dietitians already approved?
Yes. Your clinical team can set the diet types, contents, and serving requirements, and we build to them. Your RD reviews and approves the box before launch, and pricing is confirmed after the box makeup is approved.
What is HRSN, and do you fulfill HRSN nutrition benefits?
HRSN stands for health-related social needs, the category states use for non-medical drivers of health outcomes. We fulfill the nutrition service category: medically tailored grocery boxes and produce prescription boxes. In New York, that runs through Social Care Networks under the 1115 waiver.
Do your boxes meet New York HYPNAP requirements?
Yes. Every New York box is built to the state HYPNAP choice requirements, and each menu is mapped and verified against them before it ships. Your dietitian receives the mapping and signs off before launch.
Can you support a D-SNP or Medicare Advantage supplemental food benefit?
Yes. We build to a per-box cost that holds across the plan year so the benefit allowance works, and we handle the shipping and the reporting.
Can you support a PACE program?
Yes. PACE panels are smaller and more clinically tailored, with more renal and cardiac diets. We build and price for that rather than pushing a standard box at a small panel.
How do you handle state-specific nutrition standards?
We build to whatever standard governs your program, and we show the work. Each menu is mapped item by item to the required categories, verified before launch, and re-verified when the menu rotates. New York HYPNAP is the framework we document most often.
