medical nutrition therapy could cut our $3.5 trillion healthcare costs.

This digest reviews and explains the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 2021.

Over half of the people who receive Medicare benefits live with at least two chronic conditions. Chronic conditions are long-term diseases. Examples of chronic conditions are heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and kidney disease. People who live with chronic conditions are more likely to have poor health outcomes if they are sick with Covid-19. People living with chronic conditions are also more likely to have frequent hospital visits which can become expensive for the patient and the hospital. The CDC shared that nearly 3.5 trillion dollars are spent each year helping patients who live with chronic conditions.1 Medical nutrition therapy is a care plan that focuses on a patient's nutritional health. Currently, only people who have Medicare Part B coverage and live with diabetes or renal disease are offered medical nutrition therapy.2

The Medical Nutrition Therapy Act believes this type of care should be offered to those with other chronic conditions such as diabetes, prediabetes, disordered eating, malnutrition (over or undernourishment), and obesity.2 Other additional conditions that the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act would cover are renal disease, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (improper levels of cholesterol and other lipids). Diseases that cause unwanted weight loss such as cancer, GI-related (gut health) diseases, HIV, and AIDS can also be treated with nutrition therapy.2 The goal of the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act is to expand the coverage that Medicaid offers to other nutrition-related chronic conditions.

The health professional who provides nutrition therapy is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, also known as an RDN. This health professional is a nutrition expert and can identify health problems that are related to nutrition. A Dietitian Nutritionist can provide counseling, education, and treatment plans for these conditions and many others..3

In addition, the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act also has the goal of rewording the Social Security Act. The Social Security Act explains that medical nutrition therapy is for managing an already existing disease. However, nutrition therapy can also help prevent a person from developing a disease. By increasing coverage, each of the chronic conditions mentioned earlier may be prevented, delayed, or treated with nutrition. The major benefit of the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act is that it is a low-cost treatment alternative for the chronic conditions listed above.