Medicare Bill Could Save Lives, Dollars

It seems that everyone agrees that the Medicare program, created in 1965, must be modernized in order to take advantage of the major advances in medical science.

There is one reform that Congress should enact immediately in order to save money for the Medicare program and improve patient health.

A bill before Congress entitled the “Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1999” would extend medical nutrition therapy coverage to outpatient settings. Because Medicare does not provide coverage for outpatient medical nutrition therapy, Medicare beneficiaries are denied access to critical nutrition services.

A National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine study released this month recommends that medical nutrition therapy--with physician referral--be a covered benefit.

Medical nutrition therapy has been proven effective in saving lives, preventing diseases, improving quality of care and saving millions. Two recent studies conducted at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Long Beach by UC Irvine researchers showed that 50% of veterans with high cholesterol no longer required cholesterol lowering medications with dietitian visits. For each dollar spent on nutrition therapy, $3 to $4 could be saved due to a reduction in medications and related medical monitoring.

The Medicare program spends money unnecessarily treating complicated and expensive health problems that could be prevented. Below are just a few examples of how the Medicare system is unnecessarily wasteful:

* The cost for a quadruple heart bypass operation typically exceeds $80,000. Medicare pays virtually the entire cost, yet it does not pay a penny for treatment that could help delay or even avoid the surgery--medical nutrition therapy by a registered dietitian.

* Medicare will pay more than $50,000 in medical bills associated with a limb amputation of a diabetic. It will not pay for office visits to a registered dietitian to receive medical nutrition therapy. Research shows that patients with diabetes who receive medical nutrition therapy are better able to keep their disease under control, avoid amputations and hospitalizations, and reduce medication use.

* Kidney dialysis cost Medicare more than $9.6 billion in 1998. However, evidence has proven that dialysis can be delayed up to four years if a patient follows a low-protein diet and works with a dietitian.

A bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives has signed on 233 co-sponsors of the Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act. The Institute of Medicine has urged Medicare to cover these invaluable services. This is good for patients and their families as well as the entire Medicare program. Now it is up to Congress to make it happen. America’s seniors deserve nothing less.