Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act

The "Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act" establishes a 6-year program under Medicare Part A to test a new payment and service delivery model. This program aims to improve clinical health outcomes and reduce readmission rates for certain individuals by providing medically tailored home-delivered meals and medical nutrition therapy . The Secretary of Health and Human Services will select at least 40 eligible hospitals, including critical access hospitals, to participate in this initiative. Participating hospitals must screen inpatients during discharge planning to identify " qualified individuals ," defined as Medicare Part A beneficiaries with diet-impacted diseases who live at home, are limited in daily living activities, and are at high risk of readmission. For these individuals, hospitals will provide at least two medically tailored meals daily for a minimum of 12 weeks, along with medical nutrition therapy for up to one year. These services will be provided without beneficiary cost-sharing, such as deductibles or copayments. The program mandates ongoing re-screening every 12 weeks to ensure continued eligibility and requires hospitals to submit data for monitoring and evaluation. The Secretary will conduct intermediate and final evaluations to assess the program's impact on inpatient admissions, post-acute care utilization, total Part A expenditures, and overall clinical health outcomes. Funding for the program will come from the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, with a budget neutrality provision requiring offsetting reductions in other Medicare payments to hospitals.