[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1971 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1971
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide coverage of
medical nutrition therapy services for individuals with eating
disorders under the Medicare program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 5, 2025
Ms. Hassan (for herself, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mrs. Capito)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide coverage of
medical nutrition therapy services for individuals with eating
disorders 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 ``Nutrition Counseling Aiding Recovery
for Eating Disorders Act of 2025'' or the ``Nutrition CARE Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) 28,800,000 individuals in the United Sates, or 9
percent of the national population, will have an eating
disorder in their lifetime. It is estimated that 1,619,300 to
2,080,600 individuals on Medicare part B are affected by an
eating disorder, including 420,500 to 560,700 beneficiaries who
identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.
(2) 10,200 deaths per year in the United States occur as a
direct result of an eating disorder, equating to 1 death every
52 minutes. Eating disorders have one of the highest mortality
rates of all mental illness due to serious medical
comorbidities such as stroke, diabetes, and gastric rupture, in
addition to the fact that longitudinal studies have found that
the suicide risk for those with an eating disorder is 23 times
the expected risk.
(3) Eating disorders can be successfully treated with care
encompassing the 4 pillars of successful treatment: medical,
psychiatric, therapy, and medical nutrition therapy. In
general, Medicare provides some, but not all, care necessary
for eating disorders treatment. It doesn't cover medical
nutrition therapy at the outpatient level and provides no
coverage at the intensive outpatient or residential treatment
levels.
(4) Eating disorders are expensive. The yearly economic
cost of eating disorders is $64,700,000,000, with families and
individuals experiencing an economic loss of $23,500,000,000
per year. Each year, eating disorders are directly responsible
for 23,560 inpatient hospitalizations costing $209,700,000 and
53,918 emergency room visits costing $29,300,000.
(5) Eating disorders in the elderly are particularly
serious because chronic disorders or diseases may already
compromise a patient's health and make a patient more prone to
serious comorbidities associated with eating disorders,
including cardiac, metabolic, gastric, and bone conditions.
Early diagnosis and proper treatment of this population is
essential.
SEC. 3. PROVIDING COVERAGE OF MEDICAL NUTRITION THERAPY SERVICES FOR
INDIVIDUALS WITH EATING DISORDERS UNDER THE MEDICARE
PROGRAM.
Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (s)(2)(V)--
(A) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iii) as
subclauses (I) through (III), respectively, and
adjusting the margins accordingly;
(B) in subclause (III), as so redesignated, by
striking the semicolon at the end and inserting ``;
or'';
(C) by striking ``beneficiary with diabetes'' and
inserting the following: ``beneficiary--
``(i) with diabetes''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(ii) beginning January 1, 2026, with an eating
disorder (as defined by the Secretary in accordance
with most recent edition of the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the
American Psychiatric Association);''; and
(2) in subsection (vv)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by inserting ``(including management of
an eating disorder (as defined for purposes of
subsection (s)(2)(V)(ii)))'' after ``disease
management''; and
(ii) by striking ``which are furnished by''
and all that follows through the period and
inserting ``which are furnished--
``(A) by a registered dietitian or nutrition
professional (as defined in paragraph (2));
``(B) pursuant to a referral by--
``(i) a physician (as defined in subsection
(r)(1)); or
``(ii) a psychologist (or other mental
health professional to the extent authorized
under State law); and
``(C) in the case of such services furnished to an
individual for the purpose of management of such an
eating disorder, at the times specified in paragraph
(4).''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(4)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), the times specified in
this paragraph are, with respect to medical nutrition therapy services
furnished to an individual for purposes of management of an eating
disorder, at least the following:
``(i) 13 hours (including a 1-hour initial assessment and
12 hours of reassessment and intervention) during the 1-year
period beginning on the date such individual is first furnished
such services.
``(ii) Subject to subparagraph (B), 4 hours during each
subsequent 1-year period.
``(B) The Secretary may apply such other reasonable limitations
with respect to the furnishing of medical nutrition therapy services
for purposes of management of an eating disorder during a period
described in subparagraph (A)(ii) as the Secretary determines
appropriate.''.
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