Sponsors (2)
Requires Medicare Part A and Medicaid to cover specified food and nutrition services, pays Medicare 80% of actual charge, effective 180 days after enactment.
The bill expands coverage of inpatient and Medicaid nutrition services and creates a billing pathway for providers, improving access to nutrition support for low-income and Medicare patients while shifting costs to state budgets, exposing some Medicare beneficiaries to cost-sharing, and adding administrative burdens for providers and states.
Medicaid enrollees, especially low-income individuals, gain a mandatory Medicaid benefit covering specified food and nutrition services, expanding access to nutrition support.
Medicare beneficiaries in hospitals receive coverage for specified food and nutrition services while inpatient, improving access to inpatient nutrition support.
Hospitals and health systems can bill Medicare for the specified food and nutrition services (payment set at 80% of charge), creating a reimbursement pathway for providing nutrition care.
State governments must cover the new mandatory Medicaid benefit, which could increase state Medicaid spending and pressure state budgets or force trade-offs in other state programs.
Medicare beneficiaries may face increased out-of-pocket costs because payment for these services is set at 80% of the actual charge, exposing patients to cost-sharing.
Hospitals and health systems (and potentially state Medicaid programs) will face administrative burden to implement new documentation, billing, and Secretary-specified requirements, raising operational costs.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Official title: To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require coverage of certain food and nutrition services under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Introduced April 20, 2026 by Raul Ruiz · Last progress April 20, 2026
Adds specified food and nutrition services to the list of covered inpatient hospital services under Medicare Part A and makes those same food and nutrition services a mandatory Medicaid medical assistance benefit. For Medicare, the bill requires payment equal to 80 percent of the hospital’s actual charge for those specified food and nutrition services. The coverage changes take effect for items and services furnished on or after 180 days after enactment.