Health Care Reform Bill – Medicaid Changes
Here’s a few details on how the Health Care Reform Bill impacts Medicaid from a nutrition standpoint.
Medicaid
A 5 year grant will be established to provide incentives for implementing a healthy lifestyle. This includes weight loss, cholesterol reduction, diabetes prevention, and diabetes management. The grant will cover preventive services that are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and will eliminate cost sharing for prevention services. The grant won’t be effective until January 1, 2011. (FYI – The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is established with the passing of the bill into law.)
Health Care Reform – Healthy Aging Program and Child Obesity Program
Here’s a few details on how the Health Care Reform Bill impacts the Healthy Aging Program and funds the Child Obesity Demonstration Project.
Healthy Aging: Preventive Services for Adults 55-64
A grant program for state and local health departments and Indian tribes will be established. The grant will be used to provide public health interventions, preventive screenings, and referral/treatment for chronic diseases for individuals 55-64 years-old. Some of the intervention activities include improved nutrition and increased physical activity levels.
Child Obesity Demonstration Project
The Child Obesity Demonstration Project will be fully funded with $25 million. The goal of the project will be to reduce childhood obesity in community-based settings, including schools. The project will provide education, counseling and training activities.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com
Health Care Reform Impact on Restaurant Nutrition Labeling
Health care reform has a direct impact on nutrition information available at restaurant chains.
Nutrition Labeling of Menu Items at Restaurants
This provision requires restaurant chains (those with 20 or more outlets) to include calories on menus, menu boards (such as drive through menus), and food display tags. Additional nutrition information will have to be available and provided upon customer request, such as fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sodium, protein, and fiber. The intent is for the information to be uniform and consistent within a restaurant chain and between different restaurants to reduce confusion and make the information consistent. It doesn’t look like this will go into affect until 1 year after bill passed into law.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com
