Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6199 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6199

     To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the
 availability of medical nutrition therapy services under the Medicare
                                program.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 20, 2025

   Ms. Kelly of Illinois (for herself, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr.
   Veasey, Mrs. Miller of West Virginia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Casten, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Barragan, and Mr. Lieu) introduced the following bill; which
 was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition
  to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

     To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the
 availability of medical nutrition therapy services under the Medicare
                                program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Over two-thirds of Medicare fee-for-service
        beneficiaries have 2 or more chronic conditions, many of which
        can be prevented, delayed, treated, or managed through
        nutrition.
            (2) Individuals from many racial and ethnic minority
        backgrounds are more likely to be diagnosed with chronic
        diseases such as diabetes, prediabetes, chronic kidney disease,
        end-stage renal disease, and obesity.
            (3) Coverage for medical nutrition therapy is only
        available to Medicare Part B beneficiaries with diabetes or a
        renal disease, despite medical nutrition therapy being part of
        the standard of care, in clinical guidelines, and medically
        necessary for many more chronic conditions.
            (4) Medical nutrition therapy has been shown to be a cost-
        effective component of treatment for obesity, diabetes,
        hypertension, dyslipidemia, HIV infection, unintended weight
        loss in older adults, and other chronic conditions.

SEC. 3. EXPANDING THE AVAILABILITY OF MEDICAL NUTRITION THERAPY
              SERVICES UNDER THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395x) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (s)(2)(V), by striking ``in the case of''
        and all that follows through ``organizations''; and
            (2) in subsection (vv)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``disease management'' and
                        inserting ``the prevention, management, or
                        treatment of a disease or condition specified
                        in paragraph (4)'';
                            (ii) by striking ``by a physician'' and all
                        that follows through the period at the end and
                        inserting the following: ``by--
            ``(A) a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1));
            ``(B) a physician assistant (as defined in subsection
        (aa)(5));
            ``(C) a nurse practitioner (as defined in subsection
        (aa)(5));
            ``(D) a clinical nurse specialist (as defined in subsection
        (aa)(5)(B)); or
            ``(E) in the case of such services furnished to manage such
        a disease or condition that is an eating disorder, a clinical
        psychologist (as defined by the Secretary).''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following
                        new sentence: ``Such term shall not include any
                        such services furnished to an individual for
                        the prevention, management, or treatment of a
                        renal disease if such individual is receiving
                        maintenance dialysis for which payment is made
                        under section 1881.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new
                paragraph:
            ``(4) For purposes of paragraph (1), the diseases and
        conditions specified in this paragraph are the following:
                    ``(A) Diabetes.
                    ``(B) Prediabetes.
                    ``(C) A renal disease.
                    ``(D) Obesity (as defined for purposes of
                subsection (yy)(2)(C) or as otherwise defined by the
                Secretary).
                    ``(E) Hypertension.
                    ``(F) Dyslipidemia.
                    ``(G) Malnutrition.
                    ``(H) Eating disorders.
                    ``(I) Cancer.
                    ``(J) Gastrointestinal diseases, including Celiac
                disease.
                    ``(K) HIV.
                    ``(L) AIDS.
                    ``(M) Cardiovascular disease.
                    ``(N) Any other disease or condition--
                            ``(i) specified by the Secretary relating
                        to unintentional weight loss;
                            ``(ii) for which the Secretary determines
                        the services described in paragraph (1) to be
                        medically necessary and appropriate for the
                        prevention, management, or treatment of such
                        disease or condition, consistent with any
                        applicable recommendations of the United States
                        Preventive Services Task Force; or
                            ``(iii) for which the Secretary determines
                        the services described in paragraph (1) are
                        medically necessary, consistent either with
                        protocols established by registered dietitian
                        or nutrition professional organizations or with
                        accepted clinical guidelines identified by the
                        Secretary.''.
    (b) Exclusion Modification.--Section 1862(a)(1) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (O), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (P), by striking the semicolon at the
        end and inserting ``, and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(Q) in the case of medical nutrition therapy
                services (as defined in section 1861(vv)), which are
                not furnished for the prevention, management, or
                treatment of a disease or condition specified in
                paragraph (4) of such section;''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to items and services furnished in years beginning
on or after the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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