New Managed Care Findings from Harvard University Outlined (States’ Use of Medicaid Managed Care ‘in Lieu of Services’ Authority To Address Poor Nutrition): Managed Care

2025 JUN 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on Managed Care is now available. According to news reporting originating from Cambridge, Massachusetts, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “In response to rising health, economic, and equity burdens of suboptimal nutrition, health care stakeholders are increasingly integrating nutritional supports into health care delivery and financing. In January 2023, federal guidance clarified that states may use ‘in lieu of services and settings’ (ILOS) authority to address health-related social needs, including nutrition, in Medicaid managed care.”

Financial support for this research came from NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Harvard University, “However, few data are available regarding ILOS implementation. This analysis reviewed ILOS policies based on managed care documents from forty states as of October 1, 2024. Thirty-five states have authorized ILOS to address behavioral health, and fourteen states have authorized ILOS to address general medical needs. Twelve states use ILOS to address health-related social needs; of these, only ten address nutrition. In addition, fewer than half of the forty states provide robust guidance regarding evaluation or establishment of new ILOSs.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “We examine the policy implications of these findings and provide recommendations to strengthen the role of ILOS in improving nutrition, health care costs, and health equity.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: States’ Use of Medicaid Managed Care ‘in Lieu of Services’ Authority To Address Poor Nutrition. Health Affairs, 2025;44(4):422-428. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kathryn Garfield, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States. Additional authors for this research include Erika Hanson, Carmel Shachar, Pascale Stain and Dariush Mozaffarian.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01349. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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