{"id":408521,"date":"2026-04-20T16:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408521\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:40:12","slug":"pa-weighs-900k-in-state-funding-for-nutrition-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408521\/","title":{"rendered":"PA weighs $900K in state funding for nutrition meals"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Chefs in white coats are grilling chicken, boiling vegetables and pureeing sauces in the kitchens at MANNA in Philadelphia on a recent Wednesday morning.\n<\/p>\n

As \u201870s songs fill the space, other volunteers and staff form a production line. They take the food and fill hundreds of black trays, which will later be frozen and then delivered to residents all across the city who are eligible for food assistance.\n<\/p>\n

Food distribution at MANNA is different from many other assistance programs across the region. Every ingredient, recipe and label is informed by a team of registered nutritionists and dietitians whose goal is to create meals that are specifically tailored to client\u2019s health needs \u2013 whether that\u2019s a cancer diagnosis, chronic Type 2 diabetes or HIV.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe really see ourselves as the pharmacy for your prescription diet,\u201d said MANNA CEO Sue Daugherty.
\n\"SueSue Daugherty, CEO of MANNA in Philadelphia, oversees the nonprofit\u2019s medically tailored meals program, which serves people managing a chronic illness or recovering from an illness or injury. Wed., April 15, 2026. (Nicole Leonard\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n

Research shows that medically tailored meals, which are designed to maximize nutrition and cater to specific dietary deficits, have improved recovery and helped people better manage<\/a> chronic health issues. At times, they\u2019ve also kept people out of the hospital.\n<\/p>\n

But most programs remain small as these meals are not traditionally covered under health insurance.\n<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s administration is now pushing for the Pennsylvania state Legislature to pass $900,000 to provide meals like this for people with certain chronic health conditions who have Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with low incomes.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get people home and nourished with the right nutrition and keep them out of the health care system, that is an immediate cost savings,\u201d Daugherty said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s definitely a win-win.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Expanding access to nutritious meals<\/p>\n

For organizations like MANNA, Daughtery said the additional funding could help them serve even more people. The nonprofit provides its meals at no cost to people and depends mostly on philanthropic donations and partnerships.\n<\/p>\n

They are able to get reimbursed for meals through people\u2019s health insurance for only about 10-15% of cases, and Daugherty said that could be a lot higher.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately right now, we have a wait list,\u201d she said. \u201cThe referrals have increased dramatically and so we just don\u2019t have the capacity to onboard people immediately. And so that would be a game changer for us.\u201d
\n\"PeopleStaff and volunteers at MANNA in Philadelphia put together medically tailored meals for residents with specific nutrition and diet needs due to a chronic disease, illness or injury, Wed., April 15, 2026. (Nicole Leonard\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n

People who are eligible for meal services<\/a> at MANNA meet with dietitians to determine what kinds of meals are best for their medical conditions or illnesses.\n<\/p>\n

They can then elect to receive meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, depending on their hunger needs and freezer space at home. Those meals are made at MANNA with fresh ingredients and then delivered directly to people\u2019s homes once a week.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1702,179628,103,397,396,61,60,179629],"class_list":{"0":"post-408521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-diabetes","9":"tag-gov-josh-shapiro","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-care","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-pennsylvania-legislature"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}