Instacart will accept Medicare Advantage for grocery orders

Instacart is expanding its payment options next year to include Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and other supplement health benefits for grocery deliveries. The move comes after the company began accepting food stamps as payment earlier this year.

The program, which will be administered through Alignment Health, will allow anyone who receives health insurance through Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and other eligible programs to use their plan-sponsored funds to purchase “eligible groceries, wellness essentials, and over-the-counter medications for delivery via Instacart,” the company said.

The goal is to improve access to nutritious food and over-the-counter medicines for seniors, many whom experience food insecurity as a result of transportation challenges and economic instability.

“The new plans will give participating seniors greater independence, convenience, and the dignity of choice to select the essentials they need to support their health from Instacart’s broad selection of retail partners,” Sarah Mastrorocco, Vice President and General Manager of Instacart Health, said in a blog post.

Most delivery platform apps aren’t equipped to accept food stamps as a universal form of payment, though that may be changing. Uber Eats announced recently it would begin to accept food stamps.