Booker, Marshall, Smith, Cassidy Urge CMS to Advance Access to Medically Tailored Meals

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) wrote a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, urging the agency to establish standardized billing codes for Medically Tailored Meals (MTMs) to help streamline reimbursements and support efforts to make our communities healthier.

"Better integration of MTMs into health treatment would both improve health outcomes for those with diet-related diseases and generate cost savings. While Congress must pass legislation to authorize Medicaid and Medicare coverage of MTMs, we strongly urge CMS to create separate coding and payment for MTMs, which would help make reimbursement simple, efficient, and accurate once this coverage is in place," the senators wrote.

"Medically-tailored meals (MTMs) are nutritionally customized and generally home-delivered meals for individuals with diet-sensitive health conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These meals are designed by registered dietitian nutritionists to treat a patient's specific illness. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than half of American adults have one or more diet-related chronic diseases, creating an urgent need for access to MTMs as an evidence-based, cost-effective public health intervention," the senators continued.

"We strongly encourage CMS to finalize and implement a policy that creates separate coding and payment for MTMs administered by the full range of providers, including practitioners and community-based organizations," the senators concluded.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.