S. 2834: Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act

This bill, known as the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act, aims to establish a program under Medicare to provide specific meals to individuals with dietary needs caused by certain medical conditions. Here’s a breakdown of the key components of the bill:

Program Establishment

The bill creates a Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program for a six-year period, allowing selected hospitals to deliver meals specifically created to meet the nutritional needs of eligible individuals. This initiative is designed to enhance health outcomes and reduce hospital readmission rates for participants.

Eligibility and Selection of Hospitals

• Eligible Hospitals: Hospitals that can participate in the program include subsection (d) hospitals and critical access hospitals that meet specific criteria, such as having a certain star rating for quality and the capability to offer the required services.
• Selection Process: The Secretary of Health and Human Services will select at least 40 eligible hospitals to participate in the program by June 30, 2027, based on their applications and capacity to fulfill program requirements.

Requirements for Participating Hospitals

Selected hospitals must meet several criteria, including:

• Providing qualified staff, such as physicians or registered dietitians, to oversee program activities.
• Implementing a screening process for patients to determine if they are eligible to receive the tailored meals.
• Delivering medically tailored meals that meet at least two-thirds of the dietary needs of qualifying individuals and are tailored to their medical conditions and personal preferences.
• Submitting data to the Secretary to evaluate the program's effectiveness.

Payment and Cost-sharing

The bill outlines that the Secretary will determine how participating hospitals will be compensated for their services. Important points include:

• Payments to hospitals will consider similar services offered by other payers.
• Services provided under the program will not involve any out-of-pocket costs for the patients, such as deductibles or copayments.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Secretary will regularly monitor the program and conduct evaluations to assess its impact on health outcomes and costs. Reports will compare the health results of participants with those who do not receive meals under the program.

Funding

The bill states that funding for the program will come from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. It also includes provisions to ensure budget neutrality, meaning that the expenditures for this program will not exceed the amount reallocated from other payments to hospitals.

Definitions

• Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals: Meals designed specifically for individuals based on their health requirements.
• Qualified Individuals: Individuals eligible for the program must have specific diet-impacted diseases and meet certain criteria outlined by the Secretary.

Relevant Companies

• UNFI - United Natural Foods, Inc., which supplies food products to hospitals and health providers, may see changes in demand and distribution needs if the program expands home-delivery meal services.
• SYX - Sysco Corporation, a global foodservice distributor, could potentially be impacted due to increased meal distribution requirements associated with the program.