# 119-hr-5439: Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act

119-hr-5439, Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-25).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5439
- As of: 2026-10-25
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-5439
- Congress: 119
- Title: Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-09-17
- Sponsor: Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA)
- Cosponsors: 36
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-25

## Summary

**This bill would create a new _Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program_ under Medicare Part A.** The test would provide medically tailored home-delivered meals and medical nutrition therapy after hospital discharge to see if those services improve health and cut readmissions. - High-risk Medicare patients who live at home and have diet-impacted conditions (such as kidney disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, or COPD) could qualify. Qualified individuals would receive at least 2 medically tailored meals per day and medical nutrition therapy for a minimum of 12 weeks, with re-screening every 12 weeks. - The Secretary would select at least 40 eligible hospitals by June 30, 2027. Participating hospitals must staff screening and nutrition services, include registered dietitians or nutrition professionals, and meet quality and application requirements. - The program would be funded from the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and run on a budget-neutral test design that reduces certain inpatient payments so program payments are offset. The Secretary must collect data, monitor claims, and issue an interim report around year 3 and a final report around year 8 to evaluate readmissions, total Part A costs, and patient experience.

## Cosponsors (36)

- Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] (R-FL), 2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole [R-NY-11] (R-NY), 2025-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2025-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA), 2025-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] (D-AL), 2025-10-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (D-WI), 2025-10-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY), 2025-10-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26] (D-NY), 2025-10-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (D-NY), 2025-10-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA), 2025-10-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37] (D-CA), 2025-11-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI), 2025-11-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA), 2025-11-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (D-NJ), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] (D-MA), 2025-11-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2025-11-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN), 2025-12-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Matsui, Doris O. [D-CA-7] (D-CA), 2025-12-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4] (D-MN), 2025-12-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4] (D-CA), 2025-12-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garbarino, Andrew R. [R-NY-2] (R-NY), 2025-12-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8] (D-MD), 2026-02-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN), 2026-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] (D-KS), 2026-04-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5] (D-GA), 2026-06-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15] (D-NY), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kaptur, Marcy [D-OH-9] (D-OH), 2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR), 2026-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC), 2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Free medically tailored meals for Medicare: benefit, medium. If enacted, qualified people entitled to Medicare Part A would be able to get medically tailored home-delivered meals and medical nutrition therapy without Part A cost-sharing. To qualify you would need to be a Part A beneficiary not receiving similar federal or state benefits, have a diet-impacted…
- Medicare pilot for home-delivered meals: mixed, medium. If enacted, this bill would create a 6-year Medicare Part A pilot for medically tailored home-delivered meals. The pilot would start no later than 30 months after enactment. The Secretary must select at least 40 eligible hospitals by June 30, 2027, subject to available funding. Payments for the pil…
- Pilot payments and data reporting: mixed, low. If enacted, the Secretary would set the form, manner, and amount of payments to hospitals for pilot services and must consider what other payers pay for similar food services. Participating hospitals would be required to submit data the Secretary specifies. The Secretary would monitor claims and ot…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-1661: SAFE Act of 2025
- 119-hres-1641: Honoring the contributions of Indian Americans and supporting the designation of July as "Indian American Heritage Month".
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-5439 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5439)

## Related
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-1661: SAFE Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1661)
- [119-hres-1641: Honoring the contributions of Indian Americans and supporting the designation o…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hres-1641)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5439 (as of 2026-10-25).