Patient Access to Medical Foods Act
Latest action · Sep 1, 2020 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 1, 2020
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Patient Access to Medical Foods Act
This bill provides for coverage of medical foods under Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and TRICARE. The bill also requires private health insurance providers to cover medical foods.
Generally, a medical food is a food prescribed by a physician for the dietary management of a disease or condition. The bill expands this definition to include a food prescribed as a therapeutic option when a physician determines that traditional therapies are inappropriate for the patient. This definition shall apply to the insurance programs described above and to a federal grant program to encourage the development of drugs and medical foods for rare diseases.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Sep 1, 2020 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Sep 1, 2020 |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred Sep 1, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 1, 2020Introduced in House
- Sep 1, 2020Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Lists H4318H.R. 8138–8157 | — | Sep 1, 2020 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 152, September 1, 2020, page H4318.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 56 | Patient Access to Medical Foods Act | Reintroduced Bill | Feb 2, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Orphan Drug Act with respect to the definition of medical food, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Patient Access to Medical Foods Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 1, 2020Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
