Obesity Treatment and Wellness Act of 2009

Obesity Treatment and Wellness Act of 2009 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require Medicaid coverage of medical nutrition therapy to treat or prevent the progression of a chronic condition or disease which an individual is considered as having, or at risk of developing, as the result of being overweight and obese.

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3092 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3092

  To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require States to 
         cover medical nutritional therapy as part of Medicaid.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2009

   Mrs. Dahlkemper (for herself, Mr. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
Schwartz, Mrs. Halvorson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Platts, Mrs. Capps, and Mr. 
    Kind) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require States to 
         cover medical nutritional therapy as part of Medicaid.

    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 ``Obesity Treatment and Wellness Act 
of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (a) Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
        reports that between 1976 and 1980 approximately five percent 
        of youth aged 2-19 were obese. In 2006, the rate had increased 
        to 16.3 percent.
            (2) The National Center for Education Statistics report in 
        2009 finds that almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds are obese.
            (3) A New England Journal of Medicine study in 1997 found 
        that children who become obese after age 6 have a 50 percent 
        greater chance of being obese adults.
            (4) The CDC reports that in 2003, approximately half the 
        costs of treating obesity were paid through Medicare or 
        Medicaid.
            (5) The CDC reports that in 2000, the total cost of obesity 
        in the United States was estimated to be $117 billion.
            (6) To address the obesity epidemic, both prevention and 
        treatment strategies are needed.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING MEDICAID COVERAGE TO INCLUDE COVERAGE OF MEDICAL 
              NUTRITION THERAPY.

    (a) Requirement.--Section 1902(a)(10)(A) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395a(a)(10)(A)) is amended by striking ``and (21)'' and 
inserting ``, (21), and (28)''.
    (b) Services Described.--Section 1905 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396D-
(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (27);
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (28) as paragraph (29); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (27) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(28) medical nutrition therapy (as defined in section 
        1861(vv)(1)) where a physician or primary care provider 
        considers it medically necessary to treat or prevent the 
        progression of a chronic condition or disease which the 
        individual is considered as having, or at risk of developing, 
        as the result of being overweight and obese; and''.
    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments 
        made by subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to calendar 
        quarters beginning on or after October 1, 2010, without regard 
        to whether or not final regulations to carry out such 
        amendments have been promulgated by such date.
            (2) In the case of a State plan for medical assistance 
        under title XIX of the Social Security Act which the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services determines requires State 
        legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 
        order for the plan to meet the additional requirements imposed 
        by the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b), the State 
        plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the 
        requirements of such title solely on the basis of its failure 
        to meet these additional requirements before the first day of 
        the first calendar quarter beginning after the close of the 
        first regular session of the State legislature that begins 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of 
        the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year 
        legislative session, each year of such session shall be deemed 
        to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.
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