The MTM Bill: Bipartisan and Bicameral
The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act
Background
Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act would establish a Medicare pilot program to address the critical link between diet, chronic illness, and the health of older adults and people with disabilities. This proposal will ensure that medically vulnerable individuals get access to a lifesaving medically tailored meals in their home, while providing the outcomes data we need to build a more resilient, equitable and cost-effective health care system.
The bill has been bipartisan and is now - for the first time - bicameral, with the introduction of the House version of the bill (H.R. 6780) by Representatives James P. McGovern (D-MA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Dwight Evans (D-PA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and the Senate bill (S. 2133) by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA). We are so grateful to these food is medicine champions!
For decades, the agencies of FIMC have been home-delivering nutritious medically tailored meals to people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. The growing body of research shows that medically tailored meals are an extremely effective response for individuals with complex health profiles, generating immediate and significant impacts on health outcomes and costs. The addition of medically tailored meals to a care plan for this population can lead to significantly lower healthcare costs, drastically reduced hospitalizations and increased likelihood of discharge to home, rather than to an institution. Medically tailored meals are one of the least expensive and most effective ways to improve our healthcare system in an equitable way.
Approximately 80% of older adults have at least one chronic disease, and 77% have at least two. However, most Medicare beneficiaries currently have no access to medically tailored meal services. Medicare Parts A and B—covering more than two-thirds of Medicare enrollees—provide no coverage for medically tailored meals. The bill begin to correct this lack of access for vulnerable populations by directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a demonstration pilot program to test the provision of medically tailored meals to recently hospitalized Medicare enrollees with conditions such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, COPD, and kidney disease.
The demonstration will be rigorously evaluated, focusing on value-based results such as the impact of the intervention on readmissions, hospital costs, and clinical outcomes. Furthermore, the pilot has been thoughtfully framed as a multi-state project which will allow expansion of services to more geographies and a testing of effectiveness in different regions.
“Everyone should have access to appropriate nutrition to support their health needs,” said Alissa Wassung, Executive Director, FIMC. “This bill will expand access to this lifesaving service to a key population that currently has none. The focus on geographic diversity is key as we seek equity of access across the country.
Nearly 150 Organizations Sign Letter to Congress
We are thrilled to share nearly 150 ORGANIZATIONS have signed on to show their support for the MTM Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act! The letter was sent to Congressional leaders on February 5, 2024.
The Food Is Medicine Coalition will continue to accept rolling signatures to this letter for organizations who want to demonstrate support for this groundbreaking act.
Read the Letter:
February 5, 2024
Dear Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader McConnell,
The undersigned organizations strongly urge Congress to include the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act in any legislative package to improve healthcare and our economy. We are strong supporters of expanding equitable access to the medically tailored meal intervention (MTMs). By expanding access to this life saving intervention for Americans living with severe, complex, and chronic illness, and scaling MTM pilot programs in rural, urban and frontier communities across the country, we can improve health outcomes, lower healthcare costs and, through rigorous evaluation, understand the impact of this intervention. This bipartisan and bicameral policy change will boost the health of older Americans across the nation by providing a proven nutrition intervention in a clinically appropriate, geographically diverse landscape.
According to the National Council on Aging, “nearly 95% of adults 60 and older have at least one chronic condition, while 80% have two or more,” and there is currently no access to medically tailored meals in Original Medicare. The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a 4-year demonstration pilot program to provide the MTM intervention to some of our nation’s most vulnerable Medicare enrollees. Recently hospitalized Medicare enrollees with conditions such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, COPD, and kidney disease would receive the MTM intervention and their health outcomes would be closely monitored. The pilots would run in at least 20 hospitals in at least 10 states. This geographic diversity would help researchers identify how we can integrate medically tailored meals into the healthcare system to improve cost-efficacy, equity, and health outcomes, for a high-risk population of older adults.
Unlike federally funded meal programs that focus on alleviating hunger, MTMs are a clinical intervention to support health outcomes. Medically tailored meals are delivered to individuals living with severe, complex, and chronic illness through a referral from a medical professional or healthcare plan. Meal plans are tailored to the medical needs of the recipient by a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and meals are cooked from nutritionally dense ingredients and delivered to the homes of recipients. Individuals receive nutrition counseling, education and/or medical nutrition therapy throughout the intervention and are reassessed at regular intervals. By pairing food and nutrition services, healthcare providers that prescribe MTMs help patients to treat and manage their illnesses.
The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act builds upon the robust body of evidence that exists in support of providing MTMs as a research-based intervention to help treat and manage illness. Thanks to successful and effective programs around the country that are already implementing MTMs, we know that the intervention meets a critical need that is not currently addressed by our healthcare system. Studies have shown that MTMs lead to: (1) reductions in emergency department visits by 70%; (2) reductions in inpatient hospital admissions by 52%; (3) reductions in admission to skilled nursing facilities by 72%; and (4) 16% net decreases in health care costs. In fact, research conducted by the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy shows if all eligible patients received access to MTMs, in just the first year of service, almost 1.5 million hospitalizations could be avoided for a net cost savings of $13.6 billion.
To continue building on these successful efforts and expand access to this cost-saving benefit for eligible Medicare enrollees, we urge Congress to quickly pass the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act. Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out at info@fimcoalition.org.
Sincerely,
18 Reasons (California)
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Acm-Advisors
Adults & Youth United Development Association, Inc. (Texas)
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
American Society for Nutrition
APNH: A Place to Nourish your Health (Connecticut)
Association of State Public Health Nutritionists
Balanced
BCGW
Benjamin Rose (Ohio)
Bill's Kitchen, Inc (Puerto Rico)
BPC Action (D.C.)
Brightseed (California)
Butte Native Wellness Center (Montana)
California Food is Medicine Coalition (California)
CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School
Central Texas Food Bank (Texas)
Ceres Community Project (Texas)
Chef Clinic®/ChefMD®
Chef For Hire Inc (Indiana)
ChristianaCare
Cocina Rx (Illinois)
Community Health Network (Texas)
Community Servings (Massachusetts)
Crossroads4Hope, A Network of Cancer Support
Dare to Care Food Bank (Kentucky)
Defeat Malnutrition Today
DispatchHealth
Eat Ahara
Encompass Care Group
EngageWell IPA, LLC. (New York)
Equiti Foods (North Carolina)
Faithcdc (Indiana)
FAMILIAR Foods (Oregon)
FamilyCare Health Centers (West Virginia)
Feeding Texas (Texas)
FeedMore WNY (New York)
FISH Food Bank (Washington)
Food & Friends, Inc. (D.C.)
Food and Nutrition at CAMBA (New York)
Food For Health (Wisconsin)
Food For Thought (California)
Food Is Medicine Coalition
Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University (Massachusetts)
Food is Medicine Strategies
Food Outreach, Inc. (Missouri)
Foundation for Health Equity
Fresenius Kidney Care
FreshRx Oklahoma (Oklahoma)
God's Love We Deliver (New York)
Good Food is Good Medicine (Illinois)
Greater Chicago Food Depository (Illinois)
GreenFare Organic Café (Virginia)
Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities (Michigan)
Growers for Grace PBC (South Carolina)
Health Care Without Harm
Healthy Children Healthy Futures
Homestyle Direct, LLC (Idaho)
Houston Food Bank (Texas)
Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force (Idaho)
Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger (Idaho)
Illinois Public Health Institute (Illinois)
Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County (Michigan)
Joe Andruzzi Foundation (Massachusetts)
Kellyn Foundation (Pennsylvania)
Kentucky Food Action Network (Kentucky)
Kings County Commission on Aging (California)
Kitchen Angels (New Mexico)
La Soupe (Ohio)
Legacy Community Health (Texas)
Lifelong: Health For All (Washington)
Mama's Kitchen (California)
Manasota Food Action Council (Florida)
Meals on Wheels America
Meals on Wheels California (California)
Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana (Indiana)
Meals on Wheels Greenville County (South Carolina)
Meals on Wheels Kitsap (Washington)
Meals on Wheels New Mexico (New Mexico)
Meals on Wheels North Carolina (North Carolina)
Meals on Wheels of Hillsborough County (New Hampshire)
Meals on Wheels of Long Beach, Inc. (California)
Meals on Wheels of Mercer County (New Jersey)
Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, Inc (Indiana)
Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula
Meals on Wheels Orange County (California)
Meals on Wheels San Diego County (California)
Meals on Wheels San Francisco (California)
Meals on Wheels South Florida (Florida)
Meals on Wheels Texas (Texas)
Meals on Wheels Western Michigan (Michigan)
Meals on Wheels People (Oregon, Washington)
MedStar Health (Maryland)
Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA) (Pennsylvania)
Metropolitan Interfaith Association (MIFA) (Tennessee)
Mobile Meals of Toledo (Ohio)
ModifyHealth Inc. (Georgia)
Moveable Feast (Maryland)
National Kidney Foundation
National Produce Prescription Collaborative
Ohio Association of Foodbanks (Ohio)
Omi Blu Foods (Tennessee)
Open Arms of Minnesota (Minnessota)
Open Hand Atlanta (Georgia)
Planetary Health Collective
Project Angel Food (California)
Project Angel Heart (California)
Project Hospitality (New York)
Project Open Hand (California)
Radiant Health Centers (California)
Real Foods Collective (Illinois)
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel (Pennsylvania)
Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (Oklahoma)
Revolution Foods, PBC
Rocky Mountain SER (Colorado)
Roots Food Group (Texas)
Season Health
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Inc. (Florida)
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina (North Carolina)
SmootherNutrition (New York)
Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior
Sodexo Healthcare
SPUR (California)
Tangelo
Teen Kitchen Project (California)
Teton Health Solutions
Texas Health Resources (Texas)
The Common Market (Pennsylvania)
The Cook's Nook (Texas)
The Food Mill (Georgia)
The Health Trust (California)
The Hunger Coalition (Idaho)
The Medical Kitchen (California)
The National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP)
The New Hampshire Food Bank (New Hampshire)
The Poverello Center, Inc (Florida)
The Root Cause Coalition
Treasure Coast Food Bank (Florida)
University of Vermont Health Network (Vermont)
University Wisconsin Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
Wholesome Wave (Connecticut)
WI Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Wisconsin)
William M. Shaw & Associates (Illinois)