COALITION FOR NUTRITION SERVICES MEETS WITH HEALTH CARE TASK FORCE
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
COALITION FOR NUTRITION SERVICES MEETS WITH HEALTH CARE TASK FORCE on May 4 to urge the inclusion of nutrition services and products in the Clinton Administration's health care reform package. Formed in March, the Coalition for Nutrition Services in Health Care Reform met with Karen Davenport, a health aide to Sen. Robert Kerrey (D-Neb.) who serves on the Comprehensive Benefits Task Force of the President's Task Force on Health Care, and HHS official Rick Brown, who is on detail to the task force's Underserved Populations Task Force. Generally, the coalition asked that nutrition counseling and nutritional products be covered under the health care reform plan. Nutrition services, according to the coalition, should also be coordinated with supplemental food programs and other food assistance programs. The group argued that, with adequate nutritional intervention, health problems can be avoided in the population at large, thereby reducing health care costs. The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a dietary supplements industry group, also met with the health care task force at the end of March to support the use of supplemental vitamins and minerals in disease prevention ("The Tan Sheet" April 26, p. 11). The Coalition for Nutrition Services in Health Care Reform said that it was created to "raise awareness of the value of and need for quality nutrition services in health care reform proposals." Members include: The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Center for Science in the Public Interest, American Dietetic Association, Association of the the Faculties of Graduate Programs in Public Health Nutrition, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, The Oley Foundation, National Association of WIC Directors, Society for Nutrition Education, and the food and nutrition section of the American Public Health Association. The Coalition for Nutrition Services was one of a number of health care professional and consumer groups that met with the task force on May 4. Among the groups were the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Council on Aging, the American Heart Association, the American Institute on Nutrition and Public Voice for Food and Nutrition Policy.