WASHINGTON – Pennsylvania Rep Lloyd Smucker and Sharice Davids of Kansas, introduced the bipartisan Accountable Produce is Medicine Act (H.R. 8355), legislation aimed at modernizing the U.S. health care system by incorporating proven nutrition-based interventions to prevent and manage chronic disease.
This legislation would direct the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test a new bundled payment model that integrates “produce prescriptions” interventions into care for patients with chronic diseases. Through this “food is medicine” approach, eligible individuals would gain access to nutrition-focused support, including healthy foods, care coordination, and monitoring services, with the goal of improving health outcomes and reducing overall health care costs.
More than 75 percent of adults in the United States live with at least one chronic disease, many of which are diet related. Research shows that preventive, nutrition-based interventions can play a critical role in addressing this growing epidemic.