Federal Policy Opportunities to Increase Payment for BMI Screening

Payment

Action steps to increase payment for BMI screening nationwide include:

Advocate for appropriate payment for obesity-related services
Obesity is a disease that can require the multidisciplinary care of pediatricians, subspecialists and surgeons, nurses, dieticians, mental health professionals, exercise specialists, school or preschool staff, and social workers. Accurate interactive communication among professionals, patients and families is essential to achieving good health for obese children. This communication should occur within a medical home and pediatricians should be appropriately reimbursed by public and private payers for providing these necessary and potentially life-saving services.

Recommended by:

• AAP Policy: Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity
• Innovations in Addressing Childhood Obesity: Testimony of AAP Obesity Leadership Workgroup Chair Sandra Hassink, MD, FAAP, before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health (December 16, 2009)
• Childhood Obesity: Beginning the Dialogue on Reversing the Epidemic; Testimony of AAP Obesity Leadership Workgroup Chair Sandra Hassink, MD FAAP, before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (March 4, 2010)
• AAP letter to the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity