Dual-eligible beneficiaries' grocery supplemental benefit use and health care utilization

To examine the association between the use of the grocery card supplemental benefit offered by Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and health care utilization.

Observational study utilizing 2021-2022 MA claims data.

This observational cohort study examined eligible adults who were continuously enrolled between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2022, in MA dual-eligible special needs plans that offered a grocery card benefit from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. We performed difference-in-differences analyses comparing health care utilization among dual-eligible members who opted to use grocery card supplemental benefits vs those who did not, before and after the benefit's introduction.

Grocery card use was associated with an increase in the likelihood of annual wellness, primary care provider (PCP), and specialist visits (6.6%, 4.9%, and 6.6%, respectively) and increased number of office and specialist visits (2.3% and 2.8%, respectively). Frequent use (more than half of the available grocery card dollars) was analyzed separately and was associated with slightly greater increases in the likelihood and number of visits (all P <.05).

This observational study of dual-eligible beneficiaries found a modest relative increase in office visits, including annual wellness, PCP, and specialist visits, among beneficiaries who opted to use the grocery card supplemental benefits after they were offered compared with beneficiaries who did not. These findings suggest that policy changes that allow for nonmedical supplemental benefits have had favorable results, especially for dual-eligible beneficiaries.