Sponsor
Diana Harshbarger
Representative · R-TN
Representative · R-TN
The bill expands nutrition services and workforce capacity—with priority for underserved communities and evaluation to show value—but does so by reallocating existing ACA funds and adds administrative and sustainability costs that could shift resources away from other programs.
Patients with diet-related chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, heart disease) will receive more nutrition counseling integrated into primary care, improving disease management and likely reducing complications and healthcare use.
Low-income and food-insecure communities will be prioritized for awards, increasing access to culturally appropriate nutrition services where diet-related disparities are highest.
Health center providers (clinicians, dietitians) will get training and continuing education in nutrition, boosting workforce capacity to deliver evidence-based dietary care.
Low-income individuals and health centers may lose or have less funding for other ACA-supported programs because the initiative uses existing ACA funds, effectively shifting resources rather than adding new ones.
Hospitals and health centers will face administrative burden to document that grant dollars supplement and do not supplant existing funding, increasing compliance costs and staff time.
If grant funding is limited or short-term, health centers could see increased operational costs from adding dietitians, training, and evaluation activities, creating sustainability risk and potential program discontinuation.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes HRSA to use existing ACA funds to award grants and technical assistance to health centers to integrate nutrition education, counseling, and workforce training into primary care.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize funding for nutrition education and chronic disease prevention at federally qualified health centers, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 23, 2026 by Diana Harshbarger · Last progress June 23, 2026
Provides funding authority and program rules to help federally supported health centers add evidence-based nutrition education, counseling, and workforce training into primary care. Grants, contracts, and technical assistance may be awarded to health centers to integrate diet and nutrition services into chronic disease management, build interdisciplinary teams (including registered dietitians and community health workers), and evaluate clinical and cost outcomes. Prioritizes centers serving populations with high diet-related disease, food insecurity, or nutrition disparities, requires funds to supplement (not supplant) other sources, and directs the Secretary to report to Congress within three years and annually through FY2031 on program use, outcomes, workforce training, and estimated federal cost savings.