Social determinants of health have risen to the forefront of changes in payment to acknowledge that factors such as food, housing and other environmental issues can have a direct impact on the health of people for whom the government (and private payers) pay for care. Both government and private payors traditionally have not offered any payment for services that address social determinants of health directly. That, however, is changing in the new health care environment. In “
Finding an Oasis in the Food Desert: Legal Issues in One Social Determinant of Health”, Dan Shay explores the new payments and programs that are available to support people with diabetes, hypertension and other conditions affected by nutrition and food availability. In addition to new payment potentials, both for providers and patients in Medicare and Medicaid, there are a range of legal issues that can arise in providing or arranging for food support, from compliance risks associated with beneficiary inducements, to Medicare enrollment, to HIPAA, to documentation issues and more. Dan considers all of these, as well as practical issues that health care providers may face, clarifying a rapidly developing area of both social and health care policy combined, which should be of interest to those who represent a wide range of providers.