The cost of obesity is an emergency we cannot ignore. Despite the conclusive evidence that obesity is a treatable disease, Medicare rules impede millions of Americans from receiving clinically effective and cost-effective obesity solutions.

Medicare currently does not cover safe, Food and Drug Administration-approved anti-obesity medications, and only covers obesity services and treatments called Intensive Behavioral Therapy if it is provided by a primary care physician or other primary care practitioner in a primary care setting. This prevents registered dietitians like me and other specialists from providing effective treatment to older Americans living with obesity.

These laws are rooted in erroneous views of obesity as the result of individual choices. In reality, obesity is a treatable disease, stemming from genetic, biological and environmental factors. For the nearly 100 million Americans living with obesity, a lack of access to affordable care means they are at high risk for some of the leading causes of death like heart disease and stroke.

Congress has a fix at its fingertips, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act. TROA is a bipartisan bill that will allow registered dietitians and other health experts to independently provide IBT counseling services and will provide access to Food and Drug Administration-approved anti-obesity medications.

The rate of obesity among Medicare beneficiaries doubled from 1987 to 2002 and nearly doubled again by 2016. Congress should work to pass TROA as part of reconciliation to ensure Medicare recipients have access to the treatments and the health practitioners that can help them effectively treat obesity.

Christine Guenther

Pendleton