# Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 2023

Right now, Medicare only covers nutrition counseling from a registered dietitian if you have diabetes or kidney disease. This bill would expand that coverage to include many more chronic conditions that doctors know can be managed or improved through proper nutrition.

Currently, if you have Medicare and struggle with obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, or malnutrition, you're out of luck—Medicare won't pay for a dietitian to help you manage these conditions through food and nutrition, even though medical evidence shows it works. This bill would change that by allowing Medicare to cover nutrition therapy for conditions like prediabetes, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, cancer, gastrointestinal diseases like Celiac disease, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, and eating disorders. The bill also gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services flexibility to add other conditions where nutrition therapy has been proven medically necessary.

The bill also expands who can refer you for this care. Instead of only doctors being able to order nutrition therapy, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and clinical psychologists (for eating disorders) could also refer patients. This matters because these healthcare providers often spend more time with patients and might be better positioned to recognize when nutrition counseling would help.

There's a two-year waiting period before this takes effect, which gives Medicare time to figure out how to implement the changes. The bill specifically excludes people on dialysis for kidney disease from this expansion, since they already have separate nutrition coverage through existing Medicare rules. Overall, this would make nutrition therapy more accessible to millions of older Americans managing chronic conditions where diet plays a major role in treatment.

Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 2023

Kelly, Robin L.

Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 2023 This bill expands Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services. Currently, Medicare covers such services for individuals with diabetes or kidney disease under certain circumstances; such services must also be provided by a registered dietitian or nutrition professional pursuant to a physician referral. The bill extends coverage to individuals with other diseases and conditions, including obesity, eating disorders, cancer, and HIV/AIDS; such services may also be referred by a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, or (for eating disorders) a clinical psychologist.