An Act To Reduce the Incidence of Obesity and Chronic Disease in Maine

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3174-ZZ  is enacted to read:

§ 3174-ZZ.  Medical nutritional therapy; obesity treatment medication; rules

The department shall provide for the reimbursement under the MaineCare program for medical nutritional therapy, including treatment for being overweight, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, pre-diabetes, disorders of lipid metabolism, HIV infection, unintended weight loss in older adults, chronic kidney disease, malnutrition and inappropriate eating habits. Medical nutritional therapy also includes dietary surveillance and counseling. Medical nutritional therapy services may be provided by physicians, licensed dietitians and dietitian nutritionists who practice in hospitals, outpatient settings or private offices.

The department shall provide for the reimbursement under the MaineCare program for obesity treatment medication.

The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, "dietitian nutritionist" means a provider of medical nutritional therapy and "medical nutritional therapy" means a therapeutic approach to treating medical conditions and their associated symptoms by use of a specifically tailored diet devised and monitored by a physician, a licensed dietitian or a dietitian nutritionist.

SUMMARY

This bill provides for reimbursement under the MaineCare program for medical nutritional therapy provided by physicians, licensed dietitians and dietitian nutritionists and reimbursement for obesity treatment medication.