I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1375
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 furnished by registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 17, 1997
Mr. ENSIGN (for himself, Mr. SERRANO, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr.
ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BAESLER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.
BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. BOU-
CHER, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CALVERT, Ms. CHRISTIAN-GREEN, Mrs.
CLAYTON, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. COYNE, Mr. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ENGLISH of Penn-
sylvania, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FLAKE, Mr.
FOGLIETTA, Mr. FORD, Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania, Mr. FRANK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. FROST, Ms. FURSE, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr.
GILMAN, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GORDON, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL of
Ohio, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs.
KELLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KING, Mr.
KLUG, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LAZIO of New York, Mr. LEWIS
of Georgia, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. MALONEY of New
York, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts,
Mr. NADLER, Mr. OLVER, Mr. ORTIZ, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of
Minnesota, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. REYES, Ms. RIVERS,
Mr. RUSH, Mr. SABO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr.
SHAYS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. ADAM SMITH of Washington, Mr. SNYDER,
Mr. SOLOMON, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TANNER, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr.
TIERNEY, Mr. TORRES, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. VENTO, Mr.
VISCLOSKY, Mr. WALSH, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr.
WEYGAND, Mr. WISE, Mr. YATES, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. LEACH,
Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr.
MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. PALLONE, and Mrs. MEEK of Florida) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the commit-
tee concerned
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 furnished by reg-
istered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Medical Nu-
trition Therapy Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF MEDICAL NUTRITION
THERAPY SERVICES.
(a) COVERAGE.—Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graphs (N) and (O), and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (O) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph:
‘‘(P) medical nutrition therapy services (as de-
fined in subsection (oo)(1));’’.
(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; Registered
Dietitian or Nutrition Professional
‘‘(oo)(1) The term ‘medical nutrition therapy serv-
ices’ means nutritional diagnostic, therapy, and counseling
services which are furnished by a registered dietitian or
nutrition professional (as defined in paragraph (2)) pursu-
ant to a referral by a physician (as defined in subsection
(r)(1)).
‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the term ‘registered
dietitian or nutrition professional’ means an individual
who—
‘‘(A) holds a baccalaureate or higher degree
granted by a regionally accredited college or univer-
sity in the United States (or an equivalent foreign
degree) with completion of the academic require-
ments of a program in nutrition or dietetics, as ac-
credited by an appropriate national accreditation or-
ganization recognized by the Secretary for this pur-
pose;
‘‘(B) has completed at least 900 hours of super-
vised dietetics practice under the supervision of a
registered dietitian or nutrition professional; and
‘‘(C)(i) is licensed or certified as a dietitian or
nutrition professional by the State in which the serv-
ices are performed, or
‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual in a State
which does not provide for such licensure or certifi-
cation, meets such other criteria as the Secretary es-
tablishes.
‘‘(3) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2)
shall not apply in the case of an individual who as of the
date of the enactment of this subsection is licensed or cer-
tified as a dietitian or nutrition professional by the State
in which medical nutrition therapy services are per-
formed.’’.
(c) PAYMENT.—Section 1833(a)(1) of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(P)’’, and
(2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end
the following: ‘‘, and (Q) with respect to medical nu-
trition 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 under the fee schedule estab-
lished under section 1848(b) for the same services if
furnished by a physician’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to services furnished on or after
January 1, 1998.
Æ