Medicare, Diabetes, and Kidney Disease

If you're on Medicare Part B and have diabetes or non-dialysis kidney disease, you're eligible for one-on-one dietitian visits to learn how to help lower your blood sugar and cholesterol. You’ll learn about meal planning, carbohydrate counting, shopping tips and label reading.

Coverage includes three hours in the first year for initial medical nutritional therapy (MNT) and two hours per year in follow-up MNT.

MNT does not replace the program offered by Helwig Health and Diabetes Center, called Diabetes Self-Management Training. Rather, it is a complement to the Helwig program, both of which are reimbursed by Medicare to the full benefit. Call 610-402-CARE for more information.

The Medicare MNT benefit regulations define MNT services as nutritional, diagnostic, therapy, and counseling services for the purpose of managing disease. Covered services for the Medicare benefit will consist of nutrition assessment, intervention, reassessment, and follow-up interventions.

Registered and licensed dietitians are MNT specialists whose qualifications include a bachelor's degree in nutrition, a supervised internship, board exam qualified and continued education requirement to maintain licensure. Many have additional specialty credentials and all are credentialed by Medicare to perform MNT.

MNT provides the physician and the Medicare community with a valuable resource to assist in the management of diabetes and renal disease.

To contact a Medicare Credentialed Registered Dietitian, call 610-402-4802.

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