1. home
2. Public Policy
3. Take Action Now!

Take Action Now!

Updated May 23, 2023

MAND & Telehealth MNT - Help us keep the momentum! 

MAND’s bill calling for reimbursement parity for telehealth MNT, “An Act relative to telehealth parity for nutrition counseling” (H.1073/S.618), was on the docket at the May 2nd public hearing of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Financial Services.

MAND’s Director of Public Policy and President-elect presented verbal testimony at the hearing and submitted a longer document and patient testimonials as written testimony. This document will be reviewed by members of the Financial Services committee, who will decide whether to advance the bill to the next step in the legislative process by reporting the bill favorably out of committee.

What can you do to help make this happen?

• See if your legislators serve on the Joint Committee on Financial Services by using this link: https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J11 
• If your legislator(s) serve on the Joint Committee on Financial Services, please send them an email and ask them to consider reporting "An Act relative to telehealth parity for nutrition counseling" (H.1073/S.618) favorably out of committee.  
• Attach this updated information on the bill to your email: MAND's telehealth bill one-pager
• Remember to address your legislators using their proper titles: "Dear Senator X" or Dear Representative Y." 
• Remember to include your full name and home address so they know you are a constituent. If you want to, include a reason why reimbursement for telehealth MNT is important to you, to a patient, to a family, to our profession, etc. 
• Please cc MAND’s Director of Public Policy Sarah Conca on your emails: sconca@live.com Thank you very much for taking action!

What about Academy Action Alerts?

As a new Congress session gets underway, the Academy will need your help with action alerts. Any nutrition bills that did not pass last session will be reintroduced (e.g., MNT Act) so you will see action alerts for “old” bills with new bill numbers. You will also see action alerts for Farm Bill reauthorization and other nutrition-related legislation.

Currently there are three new action alerts. Please consider taking action now.

• The Senior Hunger Prevention Act (S.1036) will ensure that older adults, grandparents, kinship caregivers and adults with disabilities are able to access the food they need via the SNAP program. This important bill would help an estimated 5.2 million older Americans who struggle to meet their food budgets.

• The Special Diabetes Program, administered by the NIDDK, NIH and CDC, funds research on the prevention and cure of Type 1 diabetes. Funding for this critical program expires at the end of September and we need our members of Congress to maintain funding.

• Urge Congress to not cut SNAP benefits by tying it them to debate about raising the debt ceiling. SNAP benefits might be returning to pre-pandemic levels, but hunger and food insecurity are only rising.

To take action on these action alerts, log into your Academy account and visit the Action Center at https://www.eatrightpro.org/action-center 

Want to learn more about a particular policy issue?

Join an Academy Affinity Group!

Connect with fellow members on top policy priorities and learn how to get involved. Register for monthly meetings and join the COI for each affinity group: 

https://www.eatrightpro.org/advocacy/take-action/join-the-academys-affinity-groups 

MNT Expansion - First Tuesday of every month from 3:30-4:30 pm ET

Nutrition Security - First Wednesday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET

Maternal and Child Health - Second Wednesday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET

Dietary Guidelines - Third Wednesday of every month from 4:30-5:30 pm ET

Licensure Initiatives - Third Friday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET

Payment and Reimbursement - Fourth Tuesday of every month from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Health Equity and Diversity - Fourth Friday of every month from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

For questions about registering, contact govaffairs@eatright.org.

Want to help MAND contact and connect with our state and federal legislators?

Sign up to be part of MAND’s Grassroots Network!

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? Visit https://www.sec.state.ma.us/wheredoivotema/bal/myelectioninfo.aspx 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, MA senator and MA representative.

Thank you for your advocacy!