WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — In an effort to lower health care costs, the Biden administration has started approving state requests to use Medicaid to cover food costs and counseling, the Washington Post reported.

The changes come as lawmakers explore whether “food as medicine” programs can improve the public’s health and, as a result, possibly cut future medical costs that would otherwise be spent on someone who ended up sick due to improper diet.

Researchers believe that by addressing food insecurity, people will ultimately become healthier, significantly reducing medical visits, the need for medication and overall costs, the Washington Post reported.

“This is something that is building momentum,” Rachel Nuzum, senior vice president for federal and state health policy at the Commonwealth Fund, told the Washington Post.

Some states, including Arkansas, Oregon and Massachusetts, have already received approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to use a portion of their Medicaid funds to go toward food costs, according to USA Today.

However, Medicaid is not usually used to cover food costs, but rather to provide health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities, Go Banking Rates reported.

And while the Washington Post reported the idea appealed to some GOP lawmakers because it could give more control back to the government, it’s not something that everyone supports. Go Banking Rates reported that some critics believe it is unnecessary to use Medicaid to pay for food, especially since there is already government food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“This is really the first I’ve seen the federal government push food and air conditioners and other things as allowable. We already have the SNAP program. It seems like it’s blurring the lines,” Gary D. Alexander, head of the Medicaid and Health Safety Net Initiative for Paragon Health Institute, told the Washington Post.

House Agriculture Committee chair Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) told the Washington Post that the “food as medicine” concept has value and could work, but that it would need further testing and study proving it could work before it is fully implemented.

Last fall, researchers estimated that 1.6 million hospitalizations could be avoided if all patients in the U.S. with mobility challenges and diet-related illnesses were given access to medically tailored food, according to a study in the Journal of American Medical Association.

USA Today reported that another study in 2019 found that people receiving the meals resulted in nearly 50% fewer inpatient admissions compared to people who were not given the meals.

On Wednesday, in an effort to fight hunger, the Social Security Administration proposed a change to regulation that would make it impossible for the government to cut monthly benefits for people who need help with groceries or meals, the HuffPost reported.