Does your insurance company pay for a visit with a registered dietitian nutritionist?

It may make sense to you that insurance companies should cover Medical Nutrition Therapy for prevention and chronic disease management. Insurance plans are based on the coverage the employer has specified. Employer’s are more often recognizing the long-term cost-savings of prevention.

You can find out how many visits with an RDN are covered by calling the member benefit phone number on your insurance card. Ask the customer care representative the following questions:

1. Is Medical Nutrition Therapy a covered benefit on my plan?
2. Is it covered for my condition? – examples diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, etc
3. How many visits do I get?
4. Is there a co-pay, or are co-insurance and/or deductible applied?
5. Is (name of dietitian) an in-network provider?
6. If I use an out of network provider, what is the coverage?

Don’t get discouraged by the red tape. Most dietitians will be happy to find out this information for you. In many cases they can assist you with maneuvering through this complicated process. If you don’t have coverage, there may be other options. You may be able to use your health savings account to cover services.

If your company’s plan doesn’t provide coverage, talk to your employer’s benefits coordinator.

Talk to a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist – Your health is important!