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 January 9, 2002 |
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Staring January 1, 2002, Medicare began to promote and pay for nutrition therapy for elderly patients, starting with those who have diabetes or kidney disease, a total of more than seven million people. Based on the outcome, the secretary of Health and Human Services is supposed to advise Congress as to whether to extend tnutrition therapy to others on Medicare, for example, those with high blood pressure. Cindy Moore, director of nutrition therapy at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, said,"There is enormous potential for medical nutrition therapy to save taxpayers dollars and improve the quality of life for patients. Diet has a major role in the management of diabetes and can help reduce the risk of getting many other chronic diseases of aging like heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer." Ms. Moore said that a visit to a dietitian to provide an evaluation, counseling, and a treatment plan would probably cost three to five times less than a doctor exam, and many times less than a surgical procedure. Dietitians have sought Medicare coverage of nutrition counseling and therapy for years. As part of a law passed in December 2000, Congress agreed to provide the benefits after receiving a report from the national Academy of Sciences that said this coverage was likely to save money for Medicare and be of benefit to patients. The Department of Health and Human Services has not estimated the savings that might result from a reduction in hospital admissions, surgery and medication. Dr. Josef Coresh, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, said that eight million people had lost at least half of their kidney function, and of these, six million were 65 or older. About 330,000 elderly people have lost at least three-fourths of their kidney function and are likely to have the most severe nutritonal deficiencies, Dr. Coresh said. "People with a higher risk of kidney disease become nauseous, lose their appetite, have a higher risk of malnutrition and have poorer metabolism of the food they do eat," he said. "So they should be able to benefit from nutrition therapy. |
Nutrition Therapy to be Covered by Medicare