I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3092 

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require States to cover 

medical nutritional therapy as part of Medicaid. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2009 

Mrs. DAHLKEMPER (for herself, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

SCHWARTZ, Mrs. HALVORSON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. PLATTS, Mrs. CAPPS, 

and Mr. KIND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require 

States to cover medical nutritional therapy as part of 

Medicaid. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Obesity Treatment and 

5 Wellness Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 (a) Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre9 vention (CDC) reports that between 1976 and 1980 


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1 approximately five percent of youth aged 2–19 were 

2 obese. In 2006, the rate had increased to 16.3 per3 cent. 

4 (2) The National Center for Education Statis5 tics report in 2009 finds that almost 1 in 5 Amer6 ican 4-year-olds are obese. 

7 (3) A New England Journal of Medicine study 

8 in 1997 found that children who become obese after 

9 age 6 have a 50 percent greater chance of being 

10 obese adults. 

11 (4) The CDC reports that in 2003, approxi12 mately half the costs of treating obesity were paid 

13 through Medicare or Medicaid. 

14 (5) The CDC reports that in 2000, the total 

15 cost of obesity in the United States was estimated 

16 to be $117 billion. 

17 (6) To address the obesity epidemic, both pre18 vention and treatment strategies are needed. 

19 SEC. 3. REQUIRING MEDICAID COVERAGE TO INCLUDE 

20 COVERAGE OF MEDICAL NUTRITION THER21 APY. 

22 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Section 1902(a)(10)(A) of the 

23 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395a(a)(10)(A)) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘and (21)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (21), and 

25 (28)’’. 


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1 (b) SERVICES DESCRIBED.—Section 1905 of such 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396D–(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

4 (27); 

5 (2) by redesignating paragraph (28) as para6 graph (29); and 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (27) the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(28) medical nutrition therapy (as defined in 

10 section 1861(vv)(1)) where a physician or primary 

11 care provider considers it medically necessary to 

12 treat or prevent the progression of a chronic condi13 tion or disease which the individual is considered as 

14 having, or at risk of developing, as the result of 

15 being overweight and obese; and’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

17 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

18 amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall 

19 apply to calendar quarters beginning on or after Oc20 tober 1, 2010, without regard to whether or not 

21 final regulations to carry out such amendments have 

22 been promulgated by such date. 

23 (2) In the case of a State plan for medical as24 sistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act 

25 which the Secretary of Health and Human Services 


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1 determines requires State legislation (other than leg2 islation appropriating funds) in order for the plan to 

3 meet the additional requirements imposed by the 

4 amendments made by subsections (a) and (b), the 

5 State plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply 

6 with the requirements of such title solely on the 

7 basis of its failure to meet these additional require8 ments before the first day of the first calendar quar9 ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses10 sion of the State legislature that begins after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of 

12 the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has 

13 a 2-year legislative session, each year of such session 

14 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of 

15 the State legislature. 

Æ 


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