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Take Action Now

The Academy has the following open action alerts:

The Medical Nutrition Therapy Act (S.4504/H.R.6971)

This bill amends the Social Security Act to expand Medicare Part B coverage of outpatient MNT for obesity, prediabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, malnutrition, cancer, celiac disease, eating disorders, HIV/AIDS and any other disease or condition causing unintentional weight loss. It also authorizes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists and psychologists to refer patients for MNT.

Click here to read the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act issue brief for Academy members. 

Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act (S.2747/H.R.3637)

Fostering diversity in allied health professions, including nutrition and dietetics, via funding of health programs in minority-serving institutions.

Click here to learn more about the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act.

Support Access to Healthy Food and Nutrition Services

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to negatively impact the health and economic stability of Americans, many of whom do not have access to healthy food and nutrition services. This bill calls for the next federal stimulus package to include the following:

• SNAP – Increase benefits and allow SNAP-Ed staff to broaden its activities to support meal distribution and federal nutrition program promotion, outreach and education.
• School Meals & CACFP – Provide funds to school food and CACFP programs to support operations working with lost revenue.
• WIC – Increase the cash value benefit for the purchase of fruit and vegetables.  
• Older Americans – Increase funding for senior nutrition programs.

Click here to learn more about Supporting Access to Healthy Food and Nutrition Services. 

• Visit the Academy’s Action Center to view current action alerts and take action

• Get Text Action Alert Updates from the Academy. To stay connected with the Academy’s important action alerts and legislative updates, text "eatright" to 50457 to enroll in text alerts. You may also opt in by checking the “Send me text alerts” box when you take action.

Sign up to be part of MAND’s Grassroots Network. We need your help to contact our legislators in 2021!

To help MAND’s Public Policy Panel communicate effectively and advocate successfully for food and nutrition issues important to our profession, we maintain a list of members who would like to be more actively involved with public policy activities.

This “Grassroots Network” of MAND members from across the state is critical to advancing public policies supported by MAND and the Academy. Helping out can be as simple as sending an email or a social media message, as this helps to create and grow relationships with elected officials.

Each registered voter is a constituent of two U.S. senators and one U.S. representative as well as one state senator and one state representative. Our elected officials appreciate hearing directly from their constituents, learning about issues important to them. It is when we educate them on nutrition-related issues and directly ask for their support of a bill or policy item that we can begin to see success in policy areas important to us and our fellow nutrition and dietetics practitioners.

What can you do to get involved and join the Grassroots Network?

Click here and enter your home address to see a complete listing of your members of Congress, members of the state legislature and other local offices. Then, email Sarah Conca, MAND’s Director of Public Policy at sconca@live.com with the following information:

Your full name, credentials, home address, ZIP code + 4, preferred email and telephone number; name of your U.S. representative (we all have the same two U.S. senators) and names of your MA senator and MA representative.

Thank you for your advocacy!