New York Medicaid
Meals through New York Medicaid
New York now pays for food as part of health care. Through Social Care Networks, Medicaid can cover medically tailored and home-delivered meals for members who have trouble getting or preparing the food their condition calls for. We help you find out whether you qualify and connect you with the network serving your county.
About 5 minutes. No cost. Participation is voluntary.
The questions on this site are not the State’s health-related social needs screening. That screening is done by a trained screener at your Social Care Network; with your consent we connect you to them.
Is this you?
It is worth checking if any of these are true:
- You have New York Medicaid or a Medicaid Managed Care plan.
- You have trouble affording, shopping for, or preparing food.
- You are managing a condition such as diabetes, heart disease, or kidney disease.
- You are recovering from a hospital stay, surgery, or a new diagnosis.
- You are pregnant or recently gave birth.
- You care for someone who needs help with meals.
Answering yes to one of these does not decide anything. It means it is worth five minutes of your time to find out.
What New York can cover
Social Care Networks (SCNs) coordinate nutrition services paid for by Medicaid. Depending on your assessment, those can include:
Medically tailored meals
Prepared meals delivered to your home, planned for your condition and approved by a registered or certified dietitian nutritionist.
Home-delivered meals
Nutritionally balanced prepared meals for members with food insecurity who do not have a chronic condition that calls for medically tailored meals.
Food boxes and prescriptions
Medically appropriate food boxes, fresh produce, groceries, or nutrition vouchers, with delivery in some cases.
Pantry stocking
Fresh produce and non-perishable groceries. Under the state rules this one is limited to pregnant and postpartum members and high-risk children under 18.
Nutrition counseling and classes
One-on-one counseling and cooking or meal-planning education for conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
Cooking supplies
Basic equipment needed to prepare and store meals, such as pots, pans, utensils, a microwave, or a refrigerator.
Which services you receive, and for how long, is decided by your Social Care Network and health plan based on your assessment. Nutrition services under the waiver are time-limited: up to six months at a time, renewable once for up to six more months if the need continues, and for pregnant members through pregnancy and up to 12 months after birth. You receive one food service at a time (meals, food prescriptions, or pantry stocking), being on SNAP or WIC does not disqualify you, and the waiver funding these services runs through March 31, 2027. Members in fee-for-service Medicaid receive screening and navigation rather than enhanced nutrition services.
Who qualifies in New York
- You are enrolled in Medicaid Managed Care.
- A trained screener identifies an unmet health-related social need using the standardized New York State HRSN assessment. For nutrition services that need is food insecurity: trouble getting enough food.
- You are part of one of the state’s enhanced populations.
- You meet any additional clinical criteria required for the specific service.
Enhanced populations include
- People with chronic conditions who use a lot of care, such as repeated emergency room visits or hospital stays, including people experiencing homelessness
- People enrolled in a Health Home
- People with a substance use disorder or a serious mental illness
- People with intellectual or developmental disabilities
- People who are pregnant or gave birth in the last 12 months
- People released from incarceration in the last 90 days who have a serious chronic condition, a substance use disorder, or chronic hepatitis C
- Children under 6
- Children under 18 with one or more chronic conditions
- Youth in foster care or kinship care, or involved with the juvenile justice system
A Social Care Navigator at your Social Care Network confirms eligibility in a one-on-one assessment. For Bronx residents that network is led by SOMOS Community Care. We do not decide who is eligible — your Social Care Network and health plan do.
How it works in New York
A few questions
You answer a short set of routing questions on our form. This is not the State’s health-related social needs screening — it tells us where to send you.
Review
We review your answers and find the Social Care Network and meal programs serving your county.
Connection
With your consent we connect you to your Social Care Network and follow up until you are connected. A trained navigator there completes the official State assessment, and the network asks for its own consent first.
Meals
If you are approved, the provider you chose from your network delivers meals to your home. You can stop at any time.
Food as medicine
For someone managing diabetes, heart failure, or kidney disease, or recovering after a hospital stay, what is in the refrigerator is part of the treatment plan. That is why New York pays for nutrition alongside other medical services.
Meals built around a condition make it easier to follow a care plan and stay well at home, and they take pressure off the family members doing the shopping and cooking.
Common questions about New York
Answers to what Bronx families ask most now live on the Ask Mary page, where Mary can also answer anything else.
Ready to see if you qualify?
Answer a few questions about your coverage and your health needs, and we will tell you which New York meal programs you may qualify for.
Answer a few questions