H.R. 9389: Nutrition Education and Chronic Disease Prevention in Community Health Centers Act of 2026

This bill would add a new program within the Public Health Service Act to support nutrition education and chronic disease prevention at federally qualified health centers, which are community-based clinics that serve many low-income and underserved patients.

What the bill would do

• Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, to help health centers expand evidence-based nutrition education and counseling as part of primary care.
• Allows the government to use existing Affordable Care Act funding to give grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements, and to provide technical assistance to health centers.
• Permits funding to be used for activities such as:
  • nutrition education and counseling for patients;
  • adding nutrition assessment and dietary counseling into chronic disease care;
  • training health center staff in nutrition science and dietary counseling;
  • building care teams that include registered dietitians, community health workers, and other professionals;
  • creating nutrition materials that are culturally and linguistically appropriate;
  • studying the clinical results and costs of nutrition-based interventions.
• Allows health centers to partner with an academic medical center or medical school when carrying out funded activities.
• Requires the Secretary to give priority to health centers serving populations with high rates of diet-related chronic disease, food insecurity, or other nutrition-related health disparities.
• States that the new funding must supplement, not replace, other federal, state, local, or private funding for similar activities.
• Requires reports to Congress starting 3 years after enactment and then yearly through fiscal year 2031 on how the funds were used, whether patient outcomes improved, whether workforce training improved, and estimated cost savings to federal health programs.

Relevant Companies

None found