Articles by Lisa Rab,Stephan Schwartz

Technology

The Medicaid Program That Saved Money, Turned People’s Health Around — and Got Killed

In early 2023, Rebecca Smith was two months sober and looking for help. Her addiction to methamphetamines had cost her custody of her children, and she’d moved back home to Graham County, North Carolina, to rebuild her life. High cholesterol and heart problems ran in her family, and during her struggle with addiction she had been diagnosed with diabetes. She knew that staying sober would require taking better care of herself. She discovered Five Point Center, a nonprofit in her tiny, Great Smoky Mountains town that offered recovery support as well as free meals and groceries. Workers there told her about a new Medicaid program, the Healthy Opportunities Pilot, that would deliver boxes of fresh food to her home for free every week. Soon Smith, 35, was snacking on grapes instead of chips. She tried mangoes for the first time, and prepared Southwest chicken from a recipe that came with her box. She learned to stretch her food budget so she didn’t need […]