The Nutrition CARE Act of 2025 expands Medicare coverage to include medical nutrition therapy services provided by registered dietitians for beneficiaries diagnosed with an eating disorder, effective January 1, 2026.
Judy Chu
Representative
CA-28
The Nutrition CARE Act of 2025 addresses the critical need for comprehensive eating disorder treatment under Medicare. This bill expands Medicare coverage to include essential medical nutrition therapy services for beneficiaries diagnosed with an eating disorder, starting January 1, 2026. It establishes initial and ongoing annual coverage limits for these crucial dietitian-led services, requiring a referral from a physician or psychologist. By covering this vital component of care, the Act aims to improve health outcomes and reduce the significant economic burden associated with these serious mental illnesses.
Medicare Set to Cover 13 Hours of Nutrition Therapy for Eating Disorders Starting January 2026
The newly proposed Nutrition CARE Act of 2025 is looking to close a major gap in Medicare coverage, particularly for older adults and others dealing with the serious issue of eating disorders. Simply put, this bill mandates that Medicare will start covering medical nutrition therapy (MNT) services for beneficiaries diagnosed with an eating disorder, effective January 1, 2026.
The Cost of Ignoring the Problem
Congress is pretty clear about why this is needed. The bill’s findings section reads like a wake-up call, noting that eating disorders affect nearly 9% of the U.S. population—that’s about 28.8 million people—and lead to an estimated 10,200 deaths every year. Right now, Medicare covers MNT for diabetes, but not for eating disorders, even though successful treatment requires this type of nutritional counseling alongside medical and mental health care. This lack of coverage is expensive for everyone: the total yearly economic cost of eating disorders is estimated at a staggering $64.7 billion, with families footing a large chunk of that bill.
What’s Covered and Who Can Refer You
Section 3 outlines the new coverage. If you are a Medicare beneficiary diagnosed with an eating disorder, you will be eligible for MNT services provided by a registered dietitian or a nutrition professional. Crucially, the bill broadens the referral pool: you can get the necessary referral from a doctor or a psychologist. This is a smart move, recognizing that psychologists are often the first point of contact for mental health issues like eating disorders.
Setting the Minimum Hour Limit
The bill sets clear minimums for how much therapy Medicare must cover. In the first year a beneficiary receives the service, they are guaranteed coverage for at least 13 hours of MNT. After that initial year, coverage drops to a minimum of 4 hours annually. This structure ensures a strong initial push for treatment when it’s most critical. However, there’s a catch: the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is given the power to set “other reasonable limits” on the number of hours covered in subsequent years. While this gives HHS flexibility, it also means that the guaranteed minimum of 4 hours could be the ceiling if the Secretary is restrictive, which is something to watch for.
Real-World Impact: Closing a Treatment Gap
For a senior citizen already managing chronic conditions like heart issues or diabetes, an eating disorder can be especially dangerous, as the bill’s findings point out. This new coverage means that a 68-year-old on Medicare, who previously would have had to pay out-of-pocket for essential nutritional counseling to treat their disorder, will now have access to this critical care. The goal is to reduce the costly hospital stays and emergency room visits—23,560 and 53,918 annually, respectively—that result from untreated conditions. While this new coverage will obviously increase Medicare expenditures, the hope is that providing preventative and therapeutic care upfront will lead to lower overall health costs down the road and, more importantly, save lives.