[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1964 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1964

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage 
   under part B of the medicare program of medical nutrition therapy 
     services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 1996

 Mr. Bingaman (for himself and Mr. Hollings) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage 
   under part B of the medicare program of medical nutrition therapy 
     services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF MEDICAL NUTRITION THERAPY SERVICES.

    (a) Coverage.--Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (N); and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (O) the following new 
        subparagraph:
            ``(P) medical nutrition therapy services (as defined in 
        subsection (oo));''.
    (b) Services Described.--Section 1861 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

                  ``Medical Nutrition Therapy Services

    ``(oo) The term `medical nutrition therapy services' means 
nutritional diagnostic, therapy, and counseling services which are 
furnished by or under the supervision of a registered dietitian or 
nutrition professional who is legally authorized to furnish such 
services under State law (or the State regulatory mechanism provided by 
State law) of the State in which the services are furnished, as would 
otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician or as an incident to a 
physician's professional service.''.
    (c) Payment.--Section 1833(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395l(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and (P)'' and inserting ``(P)''; and
            (2) by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the 
        following: ``, and (Q) with respect to medical nutrition 
        therapy services (as defined in section 1861(oo)), the amount 
        paid shall be 80 percent of the lesser of the actual charge for 
        the services or the amount determined by a fee schedule 
        established by the Secretary for the purposes of this 
        subparagraph;''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 2 shall apply to services furnished 
on or after January 1, 1997.
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