Calculating the Costs of Medicaid Food is Medicine (FIM) Interventions

This Medicaid Food Security Network brief provides a framework and methodology for calculating and analyzing the cost-effectiveness and policy implications of FIM programs. Its goal is to help policymakers and advocates apply established actuarial methods to conduct balanced analyses of the predicted costs and potential savings from FIM programs by providing a step-by-step guide to using a spreadsheet calculator that will estimate a FIM program’s impact on Medicaid capitation rates. This calculator covers cost assumptions, including the target population and meal/box costs, highlights considerations for offsetting costs and improving Return on Investment (ROI), and details how to test the cost limits of proposed FIM programs.