Skip to main content

Medicare Advantage gives you money to buy healthy foods at certain stores. This helps you stay healthy and avoid getting sick. Learning to use your plan and grocery allowance can help you save money on important foods.

Sept. 29, 2025

Health maintenance isn’t limited to doctor visits, lab tests, and treatment for illness. Eating enough and maintaining good nutrition are also part of keeping up your health. When food prices are high, some Medicare plans help seniors with low income pay for groceries.

Medicare Advantage gives you money to buy healthy foods at certain stores. This helps you stay healthy and avoid getting sick. Learning to use your plan and grocery allowance can help you save money on important foods.

What is a Medicare grocery allowance?

The purpose of a Medicare Advantage grocery allowance, or healthy foods benefit, is to help you stay healthy instead of just treating illnesses when they happen. This food allowance is a benefit in some Medicare Advantage plans.

Many older people, those with long-term illnesses, and disabled Medicare plan holders often have limited money for food and other basic needs. This health foods benefit helps ease the cost of buying groceries and taking care of your health needs. You can use your Medicare Advantage food card to buy fresh food at approved stores and pharmacies.

The Medicare grocery allowance is a card you can use all year to buy food. To get this benefit, you need to meet certain rules and have the right Medicare Advantage plan.

How does a Medicare Advantage grocery allowance work?

With your Medicare Advantage grocery allowance, you get some money to spend on food. It comes as a prepaid card that gets reloaded monthly or quarterly. The money does not roll over from one month to the next, but you can spend it on various grocery items at any point during the month.

When your benefits start, you will get a Medicare Advantage food allowance card by mail. This is not the same as a Medicare flex card, which you may also receive separately. The flex card goes toward other health and wellness needs. The food allowance card is a prepaid debit card that can only be used for buying healthy food items.

The amount of money on your food allowance card varies based on your plan, qualifications, and location. However, you can expect it to be anywhere from $25 to $200 per month, or up to $2,700 per year.1

When you buy your groceries, you can use your card to get qualifying items at the register. At the end of the month, any unused funds are reset and not carried over to the next month.

Having a Medicare Advantage food allowance card does not cover grocery delivery. That service is available with some types of Medicare plans as a separate benefit. You’ll need to check your plan to see if it’s included.

What types of plans have grocery allowances?

Some Medicare Part C, or Medicare Advantage, plans come with grocery allowance benefits. But not all Medicare Part C plans have them.

To qualify for Medicare Advantage, you must also be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B. Medicare Part C includes several types of plans, but only these three qualify for grocery allowances:

  • Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan (C-SNP)
  • Dual Special Needs Plan (D-SNP)
  • Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

C-SNP offers a grocery allowance to people 65 and over who have certain chronic illnesses. These may include diabetes, dementia, heart failure, HIV, end-stage liver or renal diseases, certain autoimmune conditions, sickle cell disease, and some mental health conditions. This isn’t a complete list, so please check your Medicare benefits to make sure your condition is covered before you try to sign up or use your grocery benefits.

With D-SNP, you can receive a Medicare food allowance as part of a broader set of benefits. These benefits include meal assistance and other care services for those who need them.

PACE offers more assistance for elderly members. Along with your grocery allowance, someone may help you with your food shopping. You may also receive additional meal benefits, including meal delivery.

How do you qualify for a grocery allowance?

To get a Medicare grocery allowance, you must have Medicare Part C and qualify for a C-SNP, D-SNP, or PACE plan. Not all Medicare Part C plans fall under these three categories, so check your specific benefits before trying to use your grocery allowance.

Most of these plans require that you have certain chronic health conditions to qualify. They’re also only available to people who meet certain low-income criteria.

You might need to show proof of your health condition, like lab results or a doctor’s note, to prove you’re eligible and need these benefits. Having Medicare Parts A and B on their own does not automatically qualify you for Medicare Advantage.

Each of these plans has rules based on where you live, in addition to Medicare’s general requirements. Income limits can change depending on your area and the plan you choose, because grocery costs and the cost of living can be very different across the United States.

Typically, if you qualify for Medicare Part C — or any other Medicare plan — you’re over age 65. However, you may qualify if you’re under 65 and have certain health conditions or disabilities.

What can you buy with a Medicare Advantage grocery allowance?

Your Medicare Advantage plan will come with a list of items you can buy with your grocery allowance. The card covers food items, and only those that Medicare Advantage includes as being supportive of good physical and mental wellness.

Your Medicare Advantage grocery allowance covers these items, in most cases:

  • Fresh produce, as well as frozen or canned fruits and vegetables
  • Chicken, beef, turkey, and other lean meats
  • Seafood, like fish and some shellfish
  • Milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and other dairy products
  • Bread, rice, pasta, cereal, and other grains
  • Eggs, beans, legumes, and similar protein and fiber sources
  • Flour, sugar, seasonings, and other pantry staples
  • Snacks, like nuts and certain granola bars
  • Other miscellaneous items and canned goods, such as soup
  • Bottled water

The items you can buy may depend on your plan, how much money you have to spend, and where you live. Some brands of certain items, like snack foods, might not be allowed. It’s a good idea to check which items are excluded before you try to buy them.

While food items aren’t the only necessities for maintaining your health, several day-to-day items aren’t covered by Medicare’s grocery allowance. For example, you cannot purchase toiletries or other personal care items, such as paper products, first aid supplies, and sanitary items.

The grocery allowance may cover some frozen dinners from the store, but it doesn’t cover prepared hot meals or food from a restaurant. It also does not cover sugary foods, like sweets and sodas, or snacks high in fat, like chips. These foods can worsen some health conditions.

The Medicare grocery allowance is designed to help you buy foods that are highly nutritious. That’s why your grocery allowance won’t cover items like alcohol and tobacco, which can increase your risk of chronic and acute health conditions, such as cardiovascular problems and cancer.2

Medicare’s grocery allowance is just for your food. It doesn’t cover pet food because the benefits are meant to help you stay healthy.

Where can you spend your grocery allowance?

Most major grocery chains accept Medicare Advantage food allowance cards, such as:

  • Kroger
  • Walmart
  • Publix
  • Stop & Shop
  • Acme
  • Safeway

You can use your Medicare food benefits at places like Walgreens and CVS, which have grocery sections. Some farmers’ markets and health food stores might also accept your card. You might even be able to use your benefits at online grocery stores, but it depends on what they sell and if it meets Medicare’s nutrition rules. Local groceries, convenience stores, or specialty stores are less likely to accept your grocery allowance card. Ask the store if they accept it or check your Medicare Advantage plan to be sure.

Medicare does not allow you to spend your grocery allowance at stores that don’t sell food. That includes clothing and other necessities. The card also will not work at stores that don’t have a specific grocery section with approved items.

What other food benefits can you get?

Medicare offers other food benefits besides the grocery allowance. For example, if you were recently in the hospital, you might get meal benefits, like a limited number of free meals. Usually, this benefit covers up to four weeks of meals.

Some Medicare Part C plans let you order prepared meals if you are sick or disabled. These meals have to follow Medicare’s rules for good nutrition.

Outside of Medicare, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers senior food assistance programs. These programs give you fresh fruits and vegetables, and some provide a monthly food package. To get these benefits, you need to be 60 years old or older and meet low-income requirements.3

Disclaimer

For full information, visit www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

References

Find a doctor

At WellMed, we provide personalized primary care for people with Medicare. Our doctors listen with care and compassion, building strong relationships that empower you at every step. Our goal is simple, to provide the best care so you can live your best life.