Medicare and Medicaid to cover food and nutrition services
H.R. 8391 — To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require coverage of certain food and nutrition services under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. · Filed by Raul Ruiz (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 20, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires Medicare to cover food and nutrition services (with beneficiaries paying 20% coinsurance) and requires Medicaid to cover the same services as a mandatory benefit, effective 180 days after enactment. The bill does not specify what qualifies as a covered service—that is left to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to define by regulation.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to add food and nutrition services to the list of covered benefits under both Medicare and Medicaid, with a 180-day implementation window. This is a straightforward benefit-expansion amendment.
What the text implies
- The bill delegates all definitional authority to the Secretary—'meeting such requirements as the Secretary shall specify'—meaning the scope, eligibility, and reimbursement methodology for nutrition services will be set by regulation, not statute. This creates regulatory uncertainty and potential for narrow or broad implementation depending on HHS policy.
- Medicare's 80% coinsurance (20% beneficiary cost-share) is standard for Part B services but may create affordability barriers for low-income seniors if nutrition services are priced high. Medicaid, by contrast, has no specified cost-sharing, so low-income beneficiaries may face no out-of-pocket cost.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
nutrition service providers (registered dietitians, meal-delivery companies, food-as-medicine vendor; healthcare systems offering integrated nutrition programs