Policy & Advocacy: Call to Action


Stay Informed! Policy and Advocacy Resources: 



MNT Act Update

The MNT Act has now been officially reintroduced in the 117th Congress in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House as S. 1536/H.R. 3108. Tomorrow we’ll be sending an all-member action alert to Academy members, requesting they take action by contacting their members of Congress to support the bill. Please consider responding to this action alert!

Urge Congress to Expand Access to MNT in Medicare
The importance of strong nutrition has been in the spotlight over the past year, with COVID-19 patients experiencing poorer health outcomes if they had cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or many other chronic
conditions. Long-standing health disparities have then led to many racial and ethnic minority populations being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. *Expanding access to medical nutrition therapy is one part of the solution - and the swift passage of the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act is essential. *

Introduced earlier this week by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Gary Peters (Mich.) and U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly (Ill.) and Fred Upton (Mich.), The Medical Nutrition Therapy Act would expand Medicare Part B coverage for MNT services beyond diabetes and kidney disease to also include:
   - Cancer
   - Cardiovascular disease
   - Dyslipidemia
   - Eating disorders
   - Gastrointestinal diseases including celiac disease
   - HIV/AIDS
   - Hypertension
   - Malnutrition
   - Obesity
   - Prediabetes
   - Unintentional weight loss

*Passage of this bill would be a win-win for our profession and our communities*. *Congress needs to hear from Academy members on this important issue – take action today!*


 

Other resources:

Academy Action Center - action alerts are housed here, as well as the Member Policy Interest Survey where members can get connected with tailored advocacy initiatives that align with their interests.

ANDPAC - donations

Current legislation the Academy is working on.