Devoted Food & Home Card: Who Qualifies in 2027
Explain Devoted's Food & Home Card in One Flyer
The three eligibility criteria, how verification works by plan type, and a client-ready flyer in English and Spanish
A client hears "Food & Home Card" and assumes the allowance comes with the plan. If you can't explain the qualification process clearly at the table, you're setting up a disappointed member and a call you'll have to take later.
Many 2027 Devoted Health plans include the Food & Home Card, a monthly allowance eligible members can put toward healthy food, utilities, rent, and even mortgage payments. The 2027 changes to Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI) have raised a lot of questions, and Devoted notes that these eligibility rules apply across every Medicare Advantage plan. To help, Devoted created the Food & Home Eligibility Explainer Flyer in English and Spanish, plus a broker FAQ that answers the questions clients are likely to ask.
Who Qualifies
Not every Devoted plan includes the Food & Home Card, so confirm the benefit in the plan's Summary of Benefits before you enroll a client. For plans that offer it, members must meet all three CMS SSBCI criteria:
Chronic condition: One or more qualifying chronic conditions that are life threatening or significantly limit overall health or function
Hospitalization or adverse risk: A high risk of hospitalization or other adverse health outcomes
Intensive care coordination: A need for intensive care coordination
How a member meets those criteria depends on their plan:
C-SNP and D-SNP members must have a qualifying condition. Members with LIS (Extra Help) automatically meet the hospitalization requirement, and members without LIS can complete the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) for potential qualification. Enrollment in a SNP automatically meets the care coordination requirement.
MAPD members must have a qualifying chronic condition and complete the HRA for potential qualification on the hospitalization and care coordination requirements.
Qualifying Conditions by Plan Type
For C-SNP plans: Diabetes, congestive or chronic heart failure (CHF), cardiac arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation (AFib), coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, valvular heart disease, and chronic venous thromboembolic disorder. These are the same conditions a member needs to enroll in or remain enrolled in a Devoted C-SNP.
For all other plans: All C-SNP qualifying conditions, plus high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, asthma, COPD, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn's disease and colitis), severe obesity (BMI of 40+), dementia or Alzheimer's disease, cancer, substance use disorder, and alcohol dependence.
How Verification Works
Devoted determines whether a member meets the criteria after enrollment, reviewing the information in its system, such as medical records, prescription history, Medicare data, and a completed HRA. Most members who meet the qualifications are approved automatically.
C-SNP plans: Provider Verification forms may also help qualify a member for SSBCI. Provider Verification for the C-SNP qualifying condition is still required and may be completed independently of SSBCI qualification.
All other plans: Provider confirmation by form is a secondary pathway if other information isn't available, such as for a Veteran who gets VA care.
The most helpful thing your client can do is complete their Health Risk Assessment. It speeds up verification, and even if a member doesn't qualify right away, Devoted will keep checking as more of their records become available.
Current members: They may not need to do anything if Devoted can confirm they meet the 2027 criteria from claims data and HRA responses. Existing members can check their member portal beginning in November for their 2027 qualification status and any next steps.
Checking status: Members can check their status in the MyDevoted app or at my.devoted.com/food-and-home. If they aren't approved but think they should qualify, they can check the app for next steps or call a Member Service Guide. Encourage members to sign up for text notifications from Devoted, which is the best way to stay updated on the Food & Home Card.
How the Card Works
Qualified members receive a prepaid Visa debit card by mail, which reloads on the 1st of every month. Allowances vary by plan, and unused amounts don't roll over. Members need to activate the card before using it, and they keep the same card from month to month, so remind them not to throw it away. Members who qualify year over year can keep using their current card.
What it covers:
Healthy food: Meat, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, eggs, and pantry staples
Housing and utilities: Electricity, heating fuel such as natural gas, water, sewer, trash, internet, home and cell phone service, rent, or mortgage payments
What it doesn't cover: Salty snacks, soda, candy, energy drinks, and certain other excluded items, plus cable, streaming services, prepaid cell service, phones, calling cards, and gas for vehicles.
Shopping for groceries:
In store: Members swipe the card as CREDIT at participating stores, which vary by state and include Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Costco, Meijer, Albertsons, Dollar General, Walgreens, and more. They can also use the digital barcode in the CVS Flex Benefits app.
Online: Members can have groceries delivered through Walmart.com, Instacart, and Mom's Meals.
PPO members can shop at eligible out-of-network locations, pay out of pocket, and submit to CVS for reimbursement.
Participating stores are subject to change.
Paying rent, mortgage, and utility bills: Members can pay merchants directly with the card if the merchant accepts Visa and has a qualifying Merchant Category Code (MCC). There's no search tool for eligible billers, so it's discovered at the point of sale. If a merchant doesn't accept Visa or is coded incorrectly, or the member doesn't have the physical card, they can pay out of pocket and CVS will reimburse them.
A note for clients receiving HUD assistance: If a member uses the card for rent or utilities, they may need to verify that usage with HUD for their income calculation. Devoted recommends members contact their HUD office for clarification.
For more information, members can visit the website or call 1-855-904-FOOD.
Resources
For your clients: The Food & Home Eligibility Explainer Flyer walks prospects through who qualifies, how verification works, and what the benefit covers. It's in the Devoted Marketing Storefront under Marketing assets, in the 2027 sub-folder, and is included in Devoted's digital enrollment kits starting October 1. It's fully 508-compliant, so it's safe to print or email to clients. Devoted also offers a prospect-facing FAQ.
For you: Devoted's 2027 Extra Benefits FAQ is a broker-only guide to all of Devoted's 2027 supplemental benefits, including the Food & Home Card, dental, vision and eyewear, OTC, hearing aids, transportation, and more. It's confidential and not for distribution to Medicare beneficiaries.
Questions?
For questions about the flyer or the Food & Home Card, contact Teresa Trevino Martinez, Devoted Broker Manager for San Antonio and Corpus Christi, at 210-260-8700 or [email protected], or find your Devoted broker leader at https://www.devoted.com/broker-leader-contacts/texas/. Devoted Agent Support is available at 1-877-764-9446. For questions about selling Devoted through The Brokerage Inc., email our Medicare team at [email protected].
The Food & Home Card is a special supplemental benefit offered on certain plans, and available only to chronically ill members with conditions like diabetes, chronic heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, or peripheral vascular disease; qualifying conditions vary by plan. All applicable plan coverage criteria must be met and other conditions are eligible. Not all members qualify.
