Medicaid Food Security Network National Summit 2025 - Agenda
Welcome to the Medicaid Food Security Network National Summit - 2025. Share Our Strength is hosting this summit on May 7-8th in Washington, D.C. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
The Medicaid Food Security Network (MFSN) National Summit will bring together food security advocates, healthcare representatives (primarily from Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations), state government staff, state legislators, and allies to make connections and learn about pursuing Medicaid policy change to improve food and nutrition security for children and families.
3:00 - 4:00 PM ET
Registration Opens & Networking Activities
4:00 - 5:00 PM ET
Conversations on Food Justice: SNAP and WIC’s Role in the Food is Medicine Spectrum
Blue Room
Building upon the energy around medically tailored meals and medically tailored groceries being integrated into the Medicaid system, this panel will elevate how Medicaid systems can better integrate SNAP and WIC navigation assistance as part of a complete food security strategy. This session will discuss how leaders in the Food Is Medicine (FIM) field conceptualize FIM as including federal nutrition benefits, particularly when a healthcare team assists with navigation support for patients/members with accessing SNAP and WIC.
Welcome from MFSN
Chuck Scofield, Share Our Strength
Kelleen Zubick, Share Our Strength
Panelists
Dr. Caree Cotwright, University of Georgia
Dr. Kofi Essel, Elevance Health
Liz Landa, Mercy Housing
Closing remarks:
Corby Kummer, Aspen Institute
5:15-6:15 PM ET
State Case Studies on Medicaid Food and Nutrition Supports
Blue Room
This panel will bring together state Medicaid agency staff working on 1115 waivers and ILOS that support food and nutrition. The panel will provide an overview of these food security strategies, and then dive deeper in how each state is approaching the topic of connecting members to SNAP and WIC. Approaches to SNAP and WIC include navigation assistance as a covered case management benefit, standardized Medicaid care management workflows that include screening and referring, and/or monitoring and reporting on SNAP and WIC enrollment rates among Medicaid participants.
Moderator: Dr. Julian Xie
Speakers:
Palav Babaria, California Department of Health Care Services
Maria Perez, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Allison Rich, MassHealth
Martina Ahadzi, NY State Department of Health
8:00- 9:00 AM ET
Breakfast and Summit check-in open
Blue Room Prefunction
9:00 -10:00 AM ET
Overview of Medicaid Food Security Network’s Strategy and How Our Community Can Meet the Moment in the Current Landscape
Blue Room
Speakers will provide an overview of MFSN’s achievements since its launch in 2024 and preview 2025-2026 strategies including how we will work to create paths forward in state-level advocacy for Medicaid food strategies - including through supporting In Lieu of Services and other managed care administrative change that supports Food is Medicine and nutrition case management, advancing research, and exploring how to support responsible SNAP/WIC data sharing to healthcare - whilst also defending the core Medicaid and federal nutrition benefits. Attendees will be asked to provide input into these strategies so MFSN can best support state food security champions.
Speakers:
Courtney Smith, Share Our Strength
Dr. Julian Xie, Share Our Strength
Kathryn Jantz, HealthBegins
10:15 - 11:30 AM ET
Parallel Workshops
Medicaid Food Security Strategies 101
Capitol Room
An overview of Medicaid managed care regulations and flexibilities to enable Medicaid-supported food and nutrition services including In Lieu of Services, 1115 waivers, care coordination/case management, value-added services, community reinvestment, and value-based payments.
Speakers:
Jamila McLean, Princeton University State Health and Value Strategies
Katie Garfield, Harvard Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation
Craig Moscetti, Share Our Strength
State Food Advocacy Organization Case Studies and Interactive Live Technical Assistance
Hampton Ballroom
Advocacy organizations from several states will share their experiences engaging with their Medicaid and SNAP systems to advance Food is Medicine and benefits access. After their presentations, the facilitators and speakers will lead small group peer learning and live technical assistance tables, giving attendees an opportunity to present and discuss topics from their own states.
Facilitators:
Kathryn Jantz, Health Begins
Amanda Bank, Center for Health Care Strategies
Speakers:
Beth Kenefick, Greater Chicago Food Depository
Jessica Ossenbrugge, Roadrunner Food Bank
Austin Webb, Oklahoma Policy Institute
Nic Soucy, Project Angel Heart
Fidelity, Equity, and Dignity (FED) in Food is Medicine Workshop
Calvert Room
This session will discuss the critical importance of fidelity, equity, and dignity in FIM - including protecting immigrants and their access to services, and the importance of SNAP choice despite proposals to restrict SNAP. Attendees will learn about the FED Collective and its tools for implementing the FED Principles in FIM programming.
Speakers:
Hannah Garelick, UnidosUS
Maham Rizvi, DAISA Enterprises
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM ET
Parallel Workshops
Developing Health Data Standards and Definitions for Nutrition Counseling and Nutrition Case Management
Hampton Ballroom
Speakers will discuss their respective efforts to develop service definitions and health data standards around food security screening and interventions, to support their integration into healthcare systems. Facilitated small group discussions will help with understanding how local and state stakeholders are experiencing this topic. The group will also name next steps for defining and implementing standards for nutrition counseling and nutrition case management/SNAP+WIC application assistance.
Speakers:
Katie Ettman, Coding4Food
Sarah DeSilvey, Gravity Project
Carly Leon, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Research and Evaluation for Medicaid Food Strategies
Capitol Room
This session will describe how Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations approach evaluation of programs and policies that address social needs like food security. Speakers will provide updates from their own work, including the evaluation of the North Carolina Medicaid 1115 Waiver Healthy Opportunities Pilot and the SIREN project.
Speakers:
Dr. Seth Berkowitz, UNC Chapel Hill
Dr. Caroline FIchtenberg, UCSF SIREN Project
12:45 - 1:15 PM
Lunch
1:15 - 2:30 PM
Medicaid Managed Care Organization Food Security Screening and Referral to SNAP, WIC, and More
Blue Ballroom
Presenters from the healthcare space will describe how they have implemented policies and programs centered around social needs screening combined with navigation assistance to SNAP, WIC, and community food resources. The session will discuss how Medicaid agencies can incorporate food security screening and resource navigation provisions into Medicaid managed care organization procurement (the process by which state Medicaid agencies select health insurance companies select health insurance companies to administer insurance plans to Medicaid enrollees).
Moderator:
Rich Sheward, Children’s Health Watch
Speakers:
Katie Commey, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Aaron Canfield, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Jennifer Park, Kaiser Permanente
Leah Pryor-Lease, Colorado Access
2:45 - 4:00 PM
Parallel Workshops
Working with Medicaid on Administrative Change as a Hunger Organization
Hampton Ballroom
Several MFSN grantee organization representatives will present about their work as part of the Medicaid Food Security Network Partners Program. They will discuss their partnership building with Medicaid agencies and MCOs around In Lieu of Services nutrition programs. Further interactive conversations will focus on how healthcare and food organizations can work together to develop partnerships, and sharing lessons learned in centering Medicaid enrollees whilst balancing the needs and requirements of community based organizations and healthcare entities.
Co-facilitators:
Kathryn Jantz, HealthBegins
Elise August, Feeding America
Speakers:
Dawn Opel, Food Bank Council for Michigan
Kelcie Silvo, Voices for Georgia’s Children
Meaghan Butler, Federation of Virginia Food Bank
SNAP and WIC Data Sharing to Healthcare: The Value, Legal Rationale, Risks, and Case Studies
Capitol Room
The Attendees will hear about the legal rationale for cross-sectoral benefits enrollment data sharing, case studies that show how data sharing can be applied, and risks; and naming barriers and opportunities for MFSN to support state and federal collaboration
Speakers:
Jenee Saffold, Johns Hopkins MORE WIC Project
Kate Hanson, Meals4Families
Brittany Tybo, Washington State Department of Health WIC Director
Medicaid Food Security Strategies as a Pathway to Catalyze Transformative Change: Reflections and Call to Action
Blue Ballroom
This closing session will discuss how now is the moment to proactively organizing around Food is Medicine and the full spectrum of Medicaid food strategies. The coalition building started or deepened will enable policy and administrative change. These changes will position the Medicaid program to achieve better health outcomes among enrollees - and Medicaid investments in social care can lead to healthcare cost savings and better benefit program resiliency in the long run.
Moderator:
Dr. Julian Xie
Speakers:
Rishi Manchanda, HealthBegins
Lillian Singh, Share Our Strength