How Bento Works: Free, Healthy Groceries Chosen by You, Delivered to Your Door
When you’re living with a chronic health condition, food isn’t just fuel. It’s part of your treatment. That’s why Bento delivers healthy groceries tailored to your needs, and you get to choose them! Whether you’re managing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, or other conditions, Bento helps you access the foods to best manage your chronic condition.
What Is Bento?
Bento is a food-as-medicine service that delivers fresh, medically-supportive groceries to eligible members at no cost to you. Bento is free for eligible Medicaid health plan members residing in one of our active regions, with a health condition or a recent hospital discharge who meet eligibility criteria. Our Registered Dietitians tailor your grocery orders to your unique chronic condition, food preferences, cultural relevance, and dietary restrictions. That way, you get food that supports both your health and your lifestyle.
How It Works
1. Get Started Online
Bento is available at no cost to eligible Medicaid health plan members in our active regions who have a qualifying health condition or recent hospital discharge.
👉 Start here to check your eligibility and take the next step!
2. Tell Us What Works for You
During your enrollment, we’ll ask about your health needs, dietary restrictions, cultural relevance, and food preferences. Whether you're managing blood sugar, lowering sodium, or need to eat better to manage your specific chronic condition, your groceries are tailored to fit your health goals and your routine.
3. Groceries Delivered Weekly
Each week, you’ll select a delivery of real groceries. These aren’t pre-packaged meals or produce-only boxes (although you can choose produce only if you like). They’re fresh ingredients you can cook with, including items from around the grocery store: lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, seasonings, etc.
4. Stay Connected and Supported
Our team checks in regularly to make sure the groceries are still meeting your needs. If anything changes with your health or your preferences, we update your deliveries accordingly.
More Than Just Food: Your Health Journey Starts Here
Food is often the first step in managing chronic conditions, but it’s not the only one. Once you’re in the Bento program, we can also help connect you to additional resources and support.
Many Bento members receive access to health coaches that help you get the most out of your weekly grocery orders, better understand appropriate portions and serving sizes, build the skillsets needed to more confidently prepare meals for you and your family, and meet your health goals.
Think of Bento as a starting point for care that revolves around you.
Why It Matters
Medically tailored groceries have been shown to improve outcomes like:
Better blood sugar and blood pressure control(1)
Fewer emergency room visits(2)
More stable condition management(3)
With Bento, food becomes a tool for healing, not a barrier.
Who Is Eligible?
Eligibility depends on your health plan and medical needs.
👉 Check your eligibility and get started here!
Ready to Take the First Step?
If you or someone you care for is managing a chronic condition and could benefit from healthy groceries delivered to your home, Bento might be the right fit.
👉 Get started here!
Because managing your health should begin with food that works for you.
(1)Berkowitz SA, Delahanty LM, Terranova J, et al. Medically Tailored Meal Delivery for Diabetes Patients with Food Insecurity: A Randomized Cross-over Trial. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30421335
(2)RGV Health Connect. Medically Tailored Meals – Commonwealth Care Alliance. https://www.rgvhealthconnect.org/promisepractice/index/view?pid=30485
(3)Hager ER, Mozaffarian D. Food is Medicine: How food and diet impact clinical outcomes. Nature Medicine. 2023.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02330-7
