NationsBenefits Acquires DeliverLean to Expand ‘Food as Medicine’ Offering

Member engagement, benefits administration and healthcare company NationsBenefits has announced an agreement to acquire health and wellness-oriented food manufacturer DeliverLean in order to expand its “food as medicine” offering.

With the acquisition, NationsBenefits will add healthy post-discharge and chronic care meals to the other products it can provide to Medicare beneficiaries, according to a Monday (Aug. 29) press release.

“The DeliverLean team has created the best healthy, prepared meals solution in the market,” NationsBenefits Founder and CEO Glenn M. Parker, M.D., said in the release. “By joining forces and expanding our healthy foods suite of solutions, this enhances our strategy of using supplemental benefits to improve member outcomes.”

NationsBenefits currently provides supplemental benefits, flex cards and member engagement solutions for health plans, according to the press release.

With the addition of DeliverLean, the company will be able to offer health plans expanded meal offerings, helping Medicare Advantage (MA) plan members and low-income consumers live healthier by improving their diets, per the release.

“It’s unique for a healthcare provider to invest in a food company to ultimately improve outcomes and lower health care costs by empowering people through fresh, healthy food,” DeliverLean CEO and Founder Scott Harris, who will continue to lead this division as part of NationsBenefits, said in the release. “NationsBenefits’ model of centralizing benefits allows us to serve health plan members nationally.”

PYMNTS research has found that about four in 10 consumers order food and groceries online at least once a month.

Read more: Food Delivery Businesses Tinker With Recipe for Success as Costs Skyrocket

According to the July edition of PYMNTS’ ConnectedEconomy series, which drew from a May survey of more than 2,600 U.S consumers, 43% of consumers said they had ordered food for same-day delivery from a restaurant aggregator in the previous month and 40% said they had ordered groceries online for home delivery.