SEC. 2. MEDICALLY TAILORED HOME-DELIVERED MEALS 
DEMONSTRATION PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XVIII of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 
1823. 
MEDICALLY 
TAILORED 
HOME-DELIVERED 
MEALS DEMONSTRATION PILOT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall conduct under this section the Medically 
Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot 
Program (in this section referred to as the ‘Pro-
gram’) for a 3-year period to assess the effects of a 
covered hospital providing to qualified individuals 
medically tailored home-delivered meals. Under the 
Program, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) select eligible hospitals to participate 
in the Program in accordance with paragraph 
(2); 
‘‘(B) establish procedures for covered hos-
pitals to carry out the requirements of the Pro-
gram described under paragraph (3); 
‘‘(C) make payments to covered hospitals 
for items and services provided to qualified indi-
viduals in accordance with subsection (b); and 
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‘‘(D) submit a report on the Program in 
accordance with subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) SELECTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 
subsection, a covered hospital is a hospital— 
‘‘(i) that submits to the Secretary an 
application at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the 
Secretary may require; 
‘‘(ii) is selected by the Secretary to 
carry out the Program for not more than 
a 3-year period; and 
‘‘(iii) is a subsection (d) hospital 
under section 1886. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall 
select at least 20 covered hospitals located in at 
least 10 different States to carry out the Pro-
gram. 
‘‘(3) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) STAFF.—A covered hospital shall 
maintain on staff a physician, registered dieti-
tian or nutrition professional, or clinical social 
worker to— 
‘‘(i) screen an individual that is an in-
patient of such hospital with validated 
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screening tools to determine whether such 
individual is a qualified individual; 
‘‘(ii) re-screen each individual receiv-
ing medically tailored home-delivered meals 
with validated screening tools every 12 
weeks to determine whether such indi-
vidual is qualified to continue receiving 
medically tailored home-delivered meals; 
‘‘(iii) in the case such an individual is 
determined to be a qualified individual 
under clause (i) or (ii), ensure such indi-
vidual receives medically tailored home-de-
livered meals pursuant to a contract de-
scribed in subparagraph (B); 
‘‘(iv) provide to such individual deter-
mined to be a qualified individual under 
clause (i) or (ii) medical nutrition therapy 
furnished by a registered dietitian or nutri-
tional professional or ensure that the orga-
nization described in subparagraph (B) 
that delivers meals to such individual pro-
vides to such individual such therapy (as 
appropriate); and 
‘‘(v) monitor the clinical health out-
comes (based on measures developed by 
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the Secretary consistent with State law) of 
each individual that receive medically tai-
lored home-delivered meals. 
‘‘(B) CONTRACT TO DELIVER MEALS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A covered hospital 
shall enter into a contract (in accordance 
with criteria established by the Secretary) 
with at least 1 organization that has at 
least 1 year of experience preparing and 
delivering medically tailored meals similar 
to meals described in subsection (e)(2) and 
providing individual nutritional counseling 
or medical nutrition therapy in connection 
with delivering meals. 
‘‘(ii) NUMBER OF MEALS.—The con-
tract described in clause (i) shall provide 
for— 
‘‘(I) at least 2 medically tailored 
home-delivered meals (or a portioned 
equivalent) each day that meet at 
least two-thirds of the daily nutri-
tional needs of the qualified indi-
vidual; and 
‘‘(II) at least 12 weeks of medi-
cally tailored home-delivered meals. 
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‘‘(iii) OPTION TO PROVIDE MEALS FOR 
CAREGIVERS OR DEPENDENTS UNDER THE 
AGE OF 18.—In the case an individual is 
determined to be a qualified individual 
under clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph 
(A), the covered hospital may contract with 
the organization described in clause (i) to 
provide to the primary caregiver of the in-
dividual or a dependent under the age of 
18 that resides in the household of such in-
dividual a meal the organization deter-
mines appropriate. 
‘‘(C) REPORT
BY
HOSPITAL.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date the covered hospital 
begins to participate in the Program, and annu-
ally thereafter, a hospital selected under para-
graph (2) shall submit to the Secretary a report 
on— 
‘‘(i) the impact of medically tailored 
home-delivered meals on clinical health 
outcomes 
described 
in 
subparagraph 
(A)(v); 
‘‘(ii) the impact of medically tailored 
home-delivered meals on hospital costs (in-
cluding the costs associated with the read-
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mission (as defined in 1886(q)(5)(E)) of 
individuals); and 
‘‘(iii) any other information necessary 
to evaluate the Program. 
‘‘(b) PAYMENT.—Under the Program, payment for 
an item or service provided under this section shall be 
made from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund 
for the type, amount, frequency, and duration of such an 
item or service as the Secretary determines appropriate 
as if the item or service was payable under section 1886. 
Payment for a contract described in subsection (a)(3)(B) 
shall be made from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust 
Fund for the amount the Secretary determines appro-
priate. 
‘‘(c) REPORT
BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 3 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 6 
years after such date, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 
a report on the Program. Such report shall include a sum-
mary of, evaluation of, and recommendations on whether 
to cover medically tailored home-delivered meals as a ben-
efit under this part. 
‘‘(d) HEARINGS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives shall, 
not later than 90 days after the date the Secretary 
submits a report under subsection (c), hold a hear-
ing on the recommendations submitted by the Sec-
retary under subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.— 
Paragraph (1) is enacted— 
‘‘(A) as an exercise of rulemaking power of 
the House of Representatives, and, as such, 
shall be considered as part of the rules of the 
House, and such rules shall supersede any other 
rule of the House only to the extent that rule 
is inconsistent therewith; and 
‘‘(B) with full recognition of the constitu-
tional right of either House to change such 
rules (so far as relating to the procedure in 
such House) at any time, in the same manner, 
and to the same extent as in the case of any 
other rule of the House. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) MEDICAL
NUTRITION
THERAPY.—The 
term ‘medical nutrition therapy’ means, for the pur-
pose of disease management, nutritional, diagnostics, 
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and counseling, services that are furnished by a reg-
istered dietitian or nutrition professional. 
‘‘(2) MEDICALLY TAILORED HOME-DELIVERED 
MEAL.—The term ‘medically tailored home-delivered 
meal’ means a meal that is designed by a registered 
dietitian or nutritional professional— 
‘‘(A) for the treatment plan of a qualified 
individual; and 
‘‘(B) to improve health outcomes, lower the 
cost of care, and increase the patient satisfac-
tion of such qualified individual. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘quali-
fied individual’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(A) is entitled to benefits under this part; 
‘‘(B) has a diet-impacted disease (such as 
kidney disease, congestive heart failure, diabe-
tes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or 
any other disease the Secretary determines ap-
propriate) that is likely to cause the individual 
to require care at a hospital; and 
‘‘(C) has at least one activity of daily living 
limitation. 
‘‘(4) REGISTERED
DIETITIAN
OR
NUTRITION 
PROFESSIONAL.—The term ‘dietitian or nutrition 
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professional’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 1861(vv)(2). 
‘‘(5) VALIDATED SCREENING TOOL.—The term 
‘validated screening tool’ means a questionnaire that 
has been psychometrically tested for reliability and 
validity in assessing the presence of a condition in 
the individual who is screened by such question-
naire.’’. 
Æ 
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