Perspective               

Medicare to Cover Nutrition Therapy, Pain Management

As of January 1st Medicare covers two badly needed services for people who have a chronic disease: for the first time Medicare will cover nutrition therapy for people with diabetes or kidney disease. It also will cover pain management for people suffering with a variety of major chronic diseases.

Nutrition therapy is now available to more than seven million people who have diabetes or kidney disease, helping them choose the kinds of foods that can control or treat their illnesses. Nutrition therapy works with other types of care that a patient receives. A treating doctor-either a primary care doctor or a specialist-will refer the patient to a registered dietician or other nutrition professional and Medicare will pay for that dietician or nutrition professional to assess the patient's needs, provide counseling, and develop a treatment plan to improve the patient's diet.

Medicare also now recognizes pain management as a specialty, allowing doctors to bill Medicare for pain management services. Many studies have shown that patients are not being adequately treated for chronic pain. Allowing doctors to bill Medicare for pain management services will encourage doctors to provide such treatment to patients with cancer, arthritis, sickle cell anemia, AIDS, and other diseases that cause severe pain.

If you would like to learn more about Medicare coverage of nutrition therapy and pain management, call 1-800-MEDICARE (that's 1-800-633-4227).

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