Impact-First Loan Fuels Expansion of Medically-Tailored Grocery Cards to Address Food Insecurity Among Massachusetts Medicaid Recipients

Thousands of Commonwealth Residents Can Access the Fresh Connect Grocery Card Platform Leveraging a $400,000 Loan from ReHealth Collaborative to About Fresh

BOSTON—ReHealth Collaborative today announced it has awarded About Fresh, the nonprofit that powers Fresh Connect, a $400,000 impact-first loan to expand the reach of Fresh Connect’s food as medicine solution in Massachusetts for eligible Medicaid members.

Fresh Connect expects to provide 4,000 Massachusetts residents with nutritious food options through its produce prescription and medically-tailored grocery cards during the next 15 months. ReHealth’s working capital loan kickstarts Massachusetts operations by providing funds that can be loaded on the prepaid debit cards. Loan repayment will come via reimbursements from MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations, as part of the state’s Medicaid section 1115 demonstration waiver.

The results speak for themselves: research published in Health Affairs found Massachusetts Medicaid's food and nutrition supports reduced hospitalizations by 23% and emergency department visits by 13%. Health care costs among adults enrolled in the program for more than three months also were lower. Fresh Connect was among the covered services delivering these outcomes under MassHealth's Section 1115 waiver — and this ReHealth investment provides financing to expand that work.

The reloadable Fresh Connect prepaid debit card is accepted at more than 20,000 retailers nationwide, including major grocery and retail chains like Albertsons, Stop & Shop, Target, and Walmart. This provides cardholders the freedom to shop near where they live and work, lowering barriers and driving a program satisfaction rate of 97% among its 25,000-plus cardholders across 15 states.

"Affordability is the leading barrier to healthy eating — and it's exactly what Fresh Connect is designed to address,” said Adam Shyevitch, Chief Program Officer for About Fresh and Fresh Connect. “We've seen it work firsthand in Massachusetts. Finding a partner like ReHealth, who not only believes in this work but provides the kind of flexible financing that lets us sustain and scale Fresh Connect, means we can reach even more people who need access to nutritious food to achieve their healthcare goals."

“We are pleased to provide low-cost financing to help carry forward Fresh Connect’s important work and provide more nutritious food options for thousands of adults and children in Massachusetts,” said Caryn Capriccioso, president and CEO of ReHealth Collaborative. “Innovative platforms that produce proven health benefits, like Fresh Connect, too often struggle to bridge the gap between upfront funding needs and eventual repayment. Impact investors play a critical role in enabling community programs to continue to deliver results.”

This low-cost bridge loan — along with philanthropy and impact investments — represents a replicable model for Fresh Connect and other nutrition / food insecurity service organizations to begin local operations without upfront government payments. Medicaid 1115 waivers and in-lieu of services demonstration projects have increased funding for health-related social needs, including food as medicine programs, in recent years. More than 20 states include food and nutrition support as part of their waiver.

Through Fresh Connect, healthcare organizations can prescribe fresh produce and other foods to people who struggle to afford the nutrition they need to manage their diet-related illness. Through the program’s secure platform, healthcare organizations can track program engagement and download the reports they need to meet the security and reporting requirements necessary for healthcare workflows and Medicaid contracts.

Under the terms of the loan, About Fresh will provide ReHealth with impact reporting that anonymously summarizes Fresh Connect Massachusetts cardholder activation rate, engagement rate, utilization rate, total dollar amount spent on nutritious food, and cardholder satisfaction data. This transaction builds on ReHealth’s track record of providing impact-first capital to catalyze community-based social service programs, including helping to open and operate Family First Recovery substance use treatment facilities in New Orleans and Columbus, Ohio.

About Fresh is a national nonprofit that builds solutions that integrate access to healthy food into community healthcare systems. Fresh Connect is a solution of About Fresh that provides health plans, providers, and community partners with a medically tailored prepaid debit card backed by proprietary Approved Product Lists (APLs) and a technology platform — built to address food and nutrition insecurity and diet-related chronic disease that drive healthcare costs. With acceptance at over 20,000 retailers nationwide and a mobile app built for cardholders, Fresh Connect makes it easy to deliver high-impact food prescription programs — cost-effectively and with dignity.

ReHealth Collaborative aligns and moves impact-first capital into community-led solutions for lasting health outcomes. The nonprofit organization invests in driving systemic change; fuels innovation for health equity; and catalyzes collaboration and field-building.

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