Sponsors (2)
Authorizes a 3-year HHS pilot providing financial assistance for medically necessary infant formula or donor milk, with $15M/year authorized and annual reporting to Congress.
The bill provides targeted, community-distributed financial and product support to infants with medical feeding needs and increases transparency, but does so as a time-limited, federally funded pilot that excludes some low-income families (notably WIC participants) and adds administrative complexity and program costs.
Parents and guardians of infants with medical needs get direct financial help to buy medically necessary infant formula or donor milk, lowering immediate out-of-pocket costs.
Infants who cannot breastfeed gain access to safer, FDA-compliant formula or banked donor milk, improving nutrition and short-term health outcomes for affected children.
Local nonprofits, clinics, and hospitals can receive grants to distribute assistance, increasing community-level access and multiple delivery points for eligible families.
Low-income parents currently enrolled in WIC are excluded from this assistance, so some families with unmet medical feeding needs will remain ineligible.
The program is time-limited as a pilot with a statutory sunset, so families' access could end if Congress does not reauthorize funding or extend the program.
Verification requirements (medical professional attestation) and multiple delivery mechanisms create administrative complexity that could slow aid, increase costs, and burden applicants and providers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a pilot program under which the Secretary provides financial assistance to certain individuals to purchase infant formula, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 21, 2026 by Debbie Wasserman Schultz · Last progress May 21, 2026
Creates a 3-year federal pilot program to help medically eligible infants get needed infant formula or donor human milk by providing financial assistance (vouchers, reimbursements, or grants to local entities). The Department of Health and Human Services must set up the pilot within one year, run annual evaluations and reports to Congress, and is authorized $15 million per year for five fiscal years, with the program authority expiring three years after enactment. The program targets infants with documented medical needs that require specific formulas or donor milk, allows delivery of assistance through providers or nonprofit/local government partners, requires outreach in consultation with health care providers, and directs annual reporting on beneficiaries and amounts provided.