Policy
Current Legislative Efforts & Pilot Programs
State Level
California
The Medically Tailored Meals (MTM) Pilot Program launched on April 1, 2018. The Department of Health Care Services oversees the program and has contracted with Project Open Hand for the Provision of services. The pilot will run for four years with a total budget of $6 million, and will be evaluated to determine the impact of the MTM program on hospital, emergency department, and skilled nursing facility admissions.
Massachusetts
An Act Relative to Establishing and Implementing a Food and Health Pilot Program would require the Office of Medicaid (MassHealth) to establish a Food and Health Pilot Program that equips health care systems to connect MassHealth enrollees with diet-related health conditions to one of the three appropriate nutrition services, with the expectation that health outcomes will improve and cost of care will decrease.
Federal Level
H.R.5370 Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act of 2021
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish a demonstration program to allow hospitals to provide medically tailored, home-delivered meals to Medicare beneficiaries who have a diet-impacted disease (e.g., kidney disease) and have daily living limitations.
Learn MoreH.R.56 Patient Access to Medical Foods Act
This bill provides for coverage of medical foods under Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and TRICARE. The bill also requires private health insurance providers to cover medical foods. Generally, a medical food is a food prescribed by a physician for the dietary management of a disease or condition. The bill expands this definition to include a food prescribed as a therapeutic option when traditional therapies are inappropriate for the patient.
Learn More
