[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       MEDICAL NUTRITION THERAPY

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to call attention to 
some unfinished business from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. In this 
landmark legislation, Congress directed the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services to work with the National Academy of Sciences Institute 
of Medicine to study medical nutrition therapy as a potential benefit 
to the Medicare program.
  In December of last year, the Institute of Medicine released their 
study. They found that nutrition therapy has been shown to be effective 
in the management and the treatment of many chronic conditions which 
affect Medicare beneficiaries, including high cholesterol, high blood 
pressure, heart failure, diabetes, and kidney disease. They also found 
that Medicare beneficiaries undergoing cancer treatment may benefit 
from nutrition therapy aimed at controlling side effects or improving 
food intake. They recommended that medical nutrition therapy--with 
physician referral--be covered as a benefit under the Medicare program.
  I have been working with my friend and colleague from New Mexico, 
Senator Bingaman, for the last several years on medical nutrition 
therapy legislation. The bill we introduced establishes a new Medicare 
outpatient benefit that would allow our senior citizens to work with a 
registered dietitian or nutrition professional to learn how to manage 
chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney 
disease.
  This legislation, S. 660, has been cosponsored by 35 of our 
colleagues. Its House companion, sponsored by Representative Nancy 
Johnson, has been supported by two-thirds of the House Members.
  As Congress considers additional refinements to the Balanced Budget 
Act, we must be certain that we keep our focus on the beneficiary. In 
addition to providing health care providers with needed relief, we must 
seize the opportunity to give our Nation's seniors access to medical 
nutrition therapy.
  I urge my colleagues to join with Senator Bingaman and I to take care 
of this unfinished business before this Congress ends. We must make 
certain that action on medical nutrition therapy coverage occurs this 
year.
  I hope my colleagues will join with me on this issue.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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