By Hilda Martinez, California Health Care Foundation, November 5, 2021
Every Wednesday afternoon, Brett Perkinson eagerly awaits a delivery of customized meals that keep him healthy and help make ends meet. The 51-year-old Santa Cruz gardener and long-time diabetic has been receiving prepared meals since he was hospitalized for a severe hand injury that left him unable to care for himself. Doctors feared that his diabetes would worsen once discharged, so they referred him to a medically tailored meal program.
“My diabetes has gotten better with the meals,” said Perkinson. “I’ve kept my weight down, and I feel much better now than I have in a long time. I’m one of the people this program is meant for.”
Perkinson’s meals are a benefit provided to Medi-Cal enrollees by the Central California Alliance for Health, a Medi-Cal managed care plan for Santa Cruz, Merced, and Monterey Counties. Eligible participants are people with chronic conditions who have been recently discharged from a hospital and are at high risk of needing to be readmitted.
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