HB 26 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to authorizing Medicaid managed care organizations to offer nutrition support services in lieu of other state Medicaid plan services.

HB 26 allows Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) in Texas to offer nutrition counseling and instruction services instead of certain mental health or substance use disorder services covered under the state Medicaid plan. The bill requires contracts between the state and MCOs to include this option, with the state Medicaid advisory committee approving which nutrition services may be substituted (excluding home-delivered meals, food prescriptions, or grocery support). MCOs must provide these nutrition services as an alternative, and the state must annually report on their usage and consider their costs when setting MCO payment rates. This policy directly affects Texas Medicaid beneficiaries who may receive nutrition services in place of other covered services and the MCOs managing their care.

Issues: ✗ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2025

Signed into Law

Jun 2025

Introduced Mar 6, 2025 Signed Jun 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed → Enrolled · 5 edits · Jun 20, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was finalized in its enrolled version with minor formatting cleanup and a significant policy addition: a new pilot program allowing nutrition support services for pregnant recipients with chronic health conditions. The original text had inconsistent formatting and a note about digital content updates that were removed during finalization.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include a new pilot program for pregnant recipients with chronic health conditions, while the existing nutrition support provisions for general Medicaid recipients were refined to exclude home-delivered meals, food prescriptions, and grocery support.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a new pilot program (Section 540.02721) allowing nutrition support services for pregnant recipients diagnosed with chronic conditions like gestational diabetes, hypertension, or obesity.

REQUIREMENT

Modified Section 540.0272(c) to restrict the list of permitted nutrition support services to only nutrition counseling and instruction, explicitly excluding home-delivered meals, food prescriptions, and grocery support.

Added data collection and analysis requirements for the pilot program, including tracking compliance with meal plans, health outcomes, and newborn/infant health impacts.

TIMELINE

Established that the pilot program terminates on August 31, 2030, with the entire section expiring on September 1, 2031.

TECHNICAL

Removed formatting artifacts, inconsistent line numbers, and a note about digital content accessibility updates that were not part of the legislative text.

Floor votes · House Apr 22, 2025

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 20, 2025

Signed into law

Signed by the Governor

executive

Jun 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Signed in the Senate

upper

May 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

Signed in the House

lower

May 29, 2025

Introduced

House concurs in Senate amendment(s)-reported

upper

May 29, 2025

Introduced

Text of Senate Amendment(s)

lower

May 29, 2025

Introduced

House concurs in Senate amendment(s)

lower

May 28, 2025

Introduced

Senate Amendments Analysis distributed

lower

May 28, 2025

Introduced

Senate Amendments distributed

lower

May 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Senate passage as amended reported

lower

May 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

May 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed to 3rd reading as amended

upper

May 26, 2025

Amended

Amendment withdrawn

upper

May 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

Amended

upper

May 26, 2025

Introduced

Amendment(s) offered

upper

May 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee report printed and distributed

upper

May 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

upper

May 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

Vote taken in committee

upper

Apr 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to Health & Human Services

upper

Apr 28, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

Apr 23, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment as amended

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amended

lower

Apr 22, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (136-9-1)

house

Mar 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

Mar 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to Human Services

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

6 primary · 6 co-sponsors