Urge Your Legislators to Support the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act!

Background:
Despite increased scientific understanding of the disease of obesity, many policymakers and society as a whole continue to view obesity as a lifestyle choice or personal failing. These attitudes are rooted in bias – not science – and have failed us. There are evidence-based, FDA-approved treatments for people with obesity that mitigate the impacts of the disease and improve health outcomes. But our system remains fractured and coverage options for obesity treatments are only available for a lucky few who live in the right zip code or work for the right employer.

The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) is bipartisan legislation that provides Medicare beneficiaries with access to safe, effective, and life-saving treatments. The bill aims to effectively treat and reduce obesity in older Americans by enhancing Medicare beneficiaries’ access to healthcare providers that are best suited to provide intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) and by allowing Medicare Part D to cover Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved obesity medications (AOMs).

Take Action Now:
Use OAC’s advocacy tool below to call and send a letter to your Senators and Congressional Representative urging them to cosponsor TROA (or thank them if they already have – our system will customize the call script and letter based on current cosponsors) and urge them to work toward the bill’s passage after nearly 12 years of waiting! It’s time to acknowledge obesity for the chronic disease that it is and take steps to expand access to treatment, in the same way treatments are covered for other chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Health plans should offer behavioral, nutrition and mental health counseling for obesity as well as access to FDA approved obesity medications and bariatric surgery when appropriate. It is important that plans offer all these services without significant barriers as comprehensive care is the key to success in addressing obesity.

It’s Easy to Advocate!
OAC now has TWO ways to take action! Simply fill out your information below and look for the email and telephone icons above your representatives. We encourage you to do both – calls are a faster way to get your message through and letters only take one minute! Click on each icon to select how you’d like to take action. Please be sure to share your story and why this is important to you. The phone script has a placeholder, and the template letter can be edited. Representatives need to know how the hurdles in the way of obesity care are impacting their constituents!