Healthcare Savings Tied to Healthy Food, New Data Demonstrates

There is little question good nutrition can lead to better health. But new research illustrates how, when it comes to low-income seniors, access to quality food can also save money by reducing the number and duration of hospital visits and nursing home admissions.

And several experts said that while the data was developed in Maryland, the results are still highly relevant in New Jersey — which has nearly 190,000 elderly residents with limited economic resources — and they urged the state to do more to connect vulnerable citizens with the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as food stamps are now known.

The study of elderly Maryland residents by Benefits Data Trust, a national nonprofit based in Philadelphia, found that participation in SNAP cut their odds of hospital admissions by 14 percent, reduced the need for emergency room visits by 10 percent, and cut their likelihood of going into a nursing home by nearly one quarter. It also led to an 8 percent to 10 percent drop in the number of days a patient who was admitted remained in one of these facilities.

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Published: August 16, 2017 — 5:12 AM EDT

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