generic Mom’s Meals Delivers Food to Older Adults — Could This Program Save You Time and Money?
Mom’s Meals was founded in 1999 to deliver healthy, microwaveable prepared meals to older adults, people in long-term home care, and others who can benefit from the convenience of affordable heat-and-eat meals.
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Who Can Receive Mom’s Meals Free?
If you are a Medicare or Medicaid recipient, you may qualify to receive the meals free of charge. Eligibility may vary according to the state and the program, according to MomsMeals.com.
“We work with over 500 health plans, managed care organizations, government programs and agencies to provide access to meals for people covered under Medicaid or a Medicare Advantage plan,” said a Mom’s Meals spokesperson in an exclusive email interview with GOBankingRates.
The spokesperson outlined three situations where people may qualify to receive meals through their Medicaid or Medicare Advantage health insurance plan. Qualified participants include people:
Receiving temporary or long-term home care services.
On a plan that offers home-delivered meals post-discharge from a hospital or skilled nursing facility.
On a program with their health insurance plan to manage their chronic health condition.
If you are currently receiving Medicare or Medicaid, you should contact your plan to see if you qualify to receive Mom’s Meals free of charge, said the spokesperson.
According to the Mom’s Meals website, if you collect Social Security Disability Insurance, you may also qualify. You should reach out to your case manager at the Social Security Administration (SSA) to see if you qualify. If you don’t have one, the SSA can assign one to you.
The local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) can also help you see if you qualify for free meals, according to MomsMeals.com.
“If someone believes they qualify for meals, they must contact their health insurance plan or case manager. Their health insurance plan or case manager will go through their process to qualify and authorize meals. Only the health plan or case manager can send Mom’s Meals the authorization to provide meals and initiate the process for us to get meals to their client,” the spokesperson emphasized.
What If You Don’t Qualify for Free Meals?
If you do not qualify to receive the meals free, you can order meals under the company’s self-pay program. At just $7.99 per meal, plus shipping, these meals cost less than the average price for meal delivery services, according to PCMag.com. Most meal delivery services cost between $8.99 and $12.99 per meal.
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Mom’s Meals for Special Dietary Needs
If you have special dietary needs, Mom’s Meals could be the best meal delivery service for you. The service offers nine different meal plans based on dietary needs. Options include meals designed for:
General wellness.
Lower sodium.
Heart-friendly.
Diabetes friendly.
Renal friendly ($1 extra per meal).
Vegetarian.
Gluten free ($1 extra per meal).
Cancer support.
Pureed ($1 extra per meal).
The meals are created by chefs and dieticians to combine the best of nutrition and taste.
“They’re good meals and they fill you up,” said Cheryl Card — a senior in Roulette, Pennsylvania — who has been receiving the meals for roughly five years.
How Mom’s Meals Can Save Seniors Time and Money
Card said the meals have saved her time and money. But the biggest advantage is when she finds herself alone at lunch or dinner time. “Sometimes I get Home Health Aides who can’t cook, or the aide doesn’t show up at all,” she said. “I can pop the meals in the microwave myself.”
She listed chicken teriyaki and Swedish meatballs as her favorite dishes, but said she wished the company offered more variety.
How to Order
On the plus side, Card said ordering is easy to do online, by email, or by phone: “I like that I can speak to someone instead of ordering online.”
The Mom’s Meals spokesperson pointed out the importance of these phone calls to deliver the highest quality of service. “Particularly in the case where a person is receiving our meals as part of a long-term care or other type of program, it’s important that we connect with that client to ensure that they are enjoying the meals and that we are helping them select the meals that they may need for their particular health condition,” they said.
The social connection of speaking to someone on the phone is also important to Mom’s Meals clients, the spokesperson added. “Unfortunately, in some cases, we may be one of the few people that client speaks to that day, so in addition to answering questions and helping them customize their next order, we hear a lot about the weather, pets or grandkids. Our customer care team members really look forward to interacting with clients each day.”
With customer service in mind, Mom’s Meals also calls with reminders for clients to reorder. If you forget to call in your meal choices for the week, the company will send the same meals they sent in your prior delivery, Card pointed out. “It’s good that even if I forget to call in an order, I will still receive meals,” she said.
Taking Delivery of Your Meals
Cards suggested that seniors find out exactly when their delivery is coming and, especially if they have mobility or strength issues, make sure someone is home at that time to carry the box into the house.
In some cases, the spokesperson said, a signature is required by the meal recipient to receive the meal delivery. In that case, clients will want to make sure they are home to sign — and that they also have a Home Health Aide (or a loved one or neighbor) available to help bring the package in.
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The meals are packaged to stay cold, but are not frozen — that way, they are easy to heat-and-eat as soon as you receive them. Meals last up to 14 days in the refrigerator.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Mom’s Meals Delivers Food to Older Adults — Could This Program Save You Time and Money?
