Supporting Seniors Through Instacart: New Medicare Advantage Plans, Health Benefit and SNAP Acceptance, and a Dedicated Senior Support Line

At Instacart, we believe that everyone should have access to the essentials they need, and that access to nutritious foods can ultimately lead to better health. 

Unfortunately, millions of seniors struggle to put nutritious food on their tables and get the over-the-counter items they need to live well. According to a recent study, the top social issues impacting senior health included economic instability, food insecurity, and a lack of transportation access, which exacerbates food insecurity by making it difficult to get to a grocery store. 

Through Instacart Health, we’re working with leaders across the health ecosystem to launch programs that support seniors and help them thrive – and that includes two new agreements we’re announcing today with Alignment Health and InComm Payments.

Next year, Alignment Health will offer Medicare Advantage plans that include Instacart grocery benefits. Delivered to members through their health benefit payment cards, this new supplemental health benefit will make nutritious food more accessible for chronically ill seniors. The new plans will give participating seniors greater independence, convenience, and the dignity of choice to select the essentials they need to support their health from Instacart’s broad selection of retail partners. 

And through a new technical integration with payments provider InComm Payments, Instacart customers will soon be able to pay for their groceries with supplemental health benefit cards. This means members of participating Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and other eligible programs can use plan-sponsored funds to purchase eligible groceries, wellness essentials, and over-the-counter medications for delivery via Instacart. The new integration allows seniors to use a variety of payment types on Instacart, including both health benefits and SNAP following our expansion to all 50 states earlier this year. 

With delivery from more than 80,000 retail partner stores across North America, Instacart already enables seniors to shop for groceries and goods online and have them delivered to their homes in as fast as an hour. We also offer a Senior Support Service, available to customers over the age of 60, with a dedicated team of specialists who can help set up Instacart accounts and place orders for seniors who may need additional assistance. 

Through partnerships and innovative health plans, we can make grocery delivery via Instacart available for health plans to offer as a supplemental benefit. And by offering more payment options, seniors will have even more flexibility and control over how they pay for their groceries. 

By tapping the power of Instacart technology and working closely with partners across industries, we are helping seniors overcome some of the biggest barriers to their health and well-being. 

Sarah Mastrorocco

Author

Sarah Mastrorocco is Vice President and General Manager of Health for Instacart. A longtime Instacart veteran and leader, Sarah today oversees Instacart Health, designed to support businesses, nonprofits and consumers across three key areas: Nutrition Security, Making Healthier Choices Easier, and Food as Medicine. Sarah has played an integral role at Instacart since joining as the first member of the company’s business development team in 2014. During her tenure at Instacart, she’s taken on various leadership positions across Business Development, Account Management, and Catalog. Prior to this current role, Sarah oversaw and scaled Instacart’s Pickup business.