There are many issues being discussed
during Election 2000, that concern the health and well
being of Americans. Several of the issues directly deal
with issues that dietetic professionals work with on a
daily basis. Among them are issues dealing with food
assistance programs for the poor in our country, the
National School Lunch Act and ensuring that appropriate
medical nutrition therapy services are available to
everyone in the United States.
What is medical nutrition therapy? "Medical
nutrition therapy" refers to the comprehensive nutrition
services provided by registered dietitians as part of
the health-care team. Medical nutrition therapy has been
proven effective in treating and controlling heart
disease, stroke, diabetes, high cholesterol and other
life-threatening conditions. These patients also require
fewer hospitalizations and medications and have fewer
complications. Independent studies have shown the costs
of extending Medicare to cover outpatient nutrition
services would be offset by billions of dollars in
savings in other treatment areas in as few as four
years. While Medicare Part A now covers medical
nutrition therapy for inpatient care, Medicare does not
yet cover medical nutrition therapy for outpatient care.
This page of our website provides links to
sections of the American Dietetic Association and the
American School Food Service Association websites which
provide more detailed information on current issues and
concerns dealing with medical nutrition therapy, the
National School Lunch Act, food assistance programs and
other important concerns and how our congressional
representatives are handling these issues.
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If
one of our links doesn't work properly, please let us
know at stlouis-dietetic-assoc@juno.com. To return to
our site after checking out these links, please use the
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you.
