U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) has introduced the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act, which aims to expand access to meals designed by dieticians for seniors with chronic diseases. These medically tailored meals are intended to help manage or reverse severe diet-related illnesses and have been associated with fewer hospitalizations and reduced healthcare costs.
“Nutrition can determine how long patients stay out of the hospital,” said Dr. Cassidy. “For seniors with a chronic medical condition, healthy meals are essential.”
Alissa Wassung, Executive Director of the Food Is Medicine Coalition, expressed support for the legislation: “As longtime advocates for policy initiatives that address the connection between nutrition and health, FIMC is deeply appreciative of Representatives McGovern, Malliotakis, Pingree, Fitzpatrick and Evans and Senators Booker, Marshall, Cassidy and Smith for their introduction of the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act. This program will not only address the gap in access to medically tailored meals for older Americans and people with disabilities, but it will provide the data we need to make our health care system more efficient and patient centered. We look forward to working with these bipartisan champions, the Administration, and legislators on both sides of the aisle to advance this important bill.”
Dariush Mozaffarian, Cardiologist and Director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, commented on the urgency of addressing diet-related disease among older adults: “Older Americans face an urgent crisis of diet-related disease—sapping their well-being, vitality, and retirement savings. It’s time to reimagine our approach to health, and to recall the wisdom of the past, by integrating nourishing food into our national healthcare programs.”
Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined Senator Cassidy in introducing this legislation.
Last week, these senators sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz requesting standardized billing codes for Medically Tailored Meals in order to simplify reimbursement processes.
