Insurers offer grocery coupons for healthier members

Insurers are taking a page out of the Sunday paper, sending grocery coupons to consumers to encourage healthy eating, CNBC reported. And it's working, according to a Linkwell Health whitepaper that found the mailed coupons led to a 4.5 percent increase in healthy food consumption in 2012 over 2011. Moreover, among those who received the mailings, purchases of seafood rose 95 percent and consumption of vegetables grew 15 percent, while purchases of processed meats dropped 44 percent. Grocery store coupons are part of Humana's integrated care approach: The insurer formed an arrangement with Wal-Mart where every time a patient goes to Wal-Mart and buys healthy food, he or she gets a 10 percent discount on fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk or lean meat. Article