Unite Us and Instacart partner to scale food-as-medicine programs for healthcare organizations

Unite Us and Instacart announced a partnership on September 29, 2026, to scale food-as-medicine programs by integrating care coordination with grocery delivery. The collaboration connects Unite Us' referral platform with Instacart's delivery service, allowing Medicare, Medicaid, and transitioning patients to redeem grocery stipends directly on Instacart. The initiative aims to address food insecurity, which affects nearly 48 million Americans, by bridging execution and scalability gaps in nutrition programs.

Overview of the partnership

• ▪Unite Us and Instacart announced a partnership on September 29, 2026, to connect healthcare organizations' care coordination efforts with grocery benefits.
• ▪The partnership integrates the referral platform of New York City-based Unite Us with the grocery delivery service of San Francisco-based Instacart.

Redeeming grocery and nutrition benefits

• ▪Under the Unite Us and Instacart partnership, individuals receiving Medicare and Medicaid grocery benefits, managing chronic conditions, or transitioning home after an inpatient hospital stay can redeem stipends on Instacart.
• ▪The partnership between Unite Us and Instacart helps payers, medical providers, and government systems identify eligible members, distribute grocery benefits, and measure usage to address scalability gaps.
• ▪The integrated system from Unite Us and Instacart is designed to complement existing programs like SNAP and WIC by connecting eligible individuals to nutrition benefits and subsidized delivery.

Nutrition program challenges

• ▪Adrienne Sherk of Unite Us stated that community organizations face challenges in identifying, meeting, and tracking the needs of members who require help putting healthy food on the table.
• ▪Adrienne Sherk of Unite Us stated that real-world nutrition programs often achieve only half the impact of clinical trials due to execution and visibility gaps.

The impact of food insecurity

• ▪Adrienne Sherk of Unite Us identified food insecurity as one of the largest drivers of poor health outcomes across the communities served by the organization.
• ▪A 2025 report cited by the Food Research & Action Center found that nearly 48 million people in the United States experienced food insecurity.

Debatable claims

• ▪Addressing food insecurity is an appropriate role for healthcare systems
• ▪App-based grocery delivery is an effective way to scale food-as-medicine programs
• ▪Public health programs should partner with private delivery apps to distribute nutrition benefits
• ▪Tracking patients' grocery purchases to measure health outcomes is justified