Food is Medicine Access Act of 2026

Safe harbor for food and nutrition services

If enacted, this bill would create a safe harbor in federal anti-kickback rules for certain food and nutrition items and services when offered through evidence-based food-for-health programs. Examples listed by the Health and Human Services secretary could include medically tailored meals or groceries, nutrition prescriptions, pantry stocking, transportation to obtain food, nutrition counseling, and in-kind food vouchers. The secretary would decide which classes of people and which provider types qualify, set fraud and abuse protections, and could require written policies approved by a provider’s governing body. The change would apply to remunerations offered or provided 18 months after enactment and would not guarantee that households receive these services or that they are covered.