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Obesity Care Now

11.02.21 Letter to CMS re TROA Final.pdf

To the Honorable Chiquita Brooks-LaSure
Administrator
Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services
<blockquote>
As the sponsors of the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (H.R. 1577/S. 596), we write to urge you to use your regulatory authority to give seniors access to Food &amp; Drug Administration (FDA) approved anti-obesity medications (AOMs) and to improve access to Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) for obesity. We are hopeful that CMS will not only recognize the devastating impact that COVID-19 is having on the health outcomes of so many Americans living with obesity, but also the disproportionate toll obesity is having on communities of color. As such, we hope that CMS will use its resources to update Medicare&#x27;s coverage policies to provide comprehensive coverage for effective therapies to treat obesity.
</blockquote>

Comments: House and Senate Sponsors Urge CMS to Implement TROA Provisions

Original Post: <a href="https://conscienhealth.org/2021/10/doubling-covids-toll-mental-health-and-child-obesity/">ConscienHealth</a>
The numbers make it crystal clear. One of the long-term effects of the COVID pandemic will be a jump in childhood obesity. And it’s not hard to trace that back to the mental health of children and families. Late last week a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-053760">new report</a> in Pediatrics provided a stark reminder about the impact of COVID on children. Roughly 140,000 children have lost a primary caregiver to death because of the pandemic. That is 140,000 children who have lost a parent, grandparent, or another loved one who cared for them.
Now let’s recall that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0509-2">adverse childhood experiences</a> are an important trigger for obesity. So the straight line from these devastating losses to the jump in childhood obesity rates is easy to see.
<h4>Unfortunate Complacency About Children and COVID</h4>
Early in the pandemic, some people falsely thought that children were “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51975377">essentially immune</a>” to COVID. Now we’ve learned how wrong they were. First of all, with the Delta surge, pediatric ICUs have been <a href="https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/patient-flow/number-of-us-children-hospitalized-with-covid-19-hits-record-dallas-out-of-pediatric-icu-beds.html">filling up</a>. But in addition, the indirect impact on mental and physical health has been drastic.
Obesity prevalence in kids <a href="https://conscienhealth.org/2021/09/more-obesity-in-the-pandemic-kids-yes-adults-iffy/">has clearly grown</a> in the pandemic. Further, COVID has put the mental health of the world’s 2.2 billion children at risk. A new report from the UN tells us that nearly <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/impact-covid-19-poor-mental-health-children-and-young-people-tip-iceberg#:~:text=1%20in%205%20young%20people%20aged%2015%E2%80%9324%20surveyed%20said%20they%20often%20feel%20depressed%20or%20have%20little%20interest%20in%20doing%20things.">one in five young people</a> often feel depressed or have little interest in life. Children’s hospitals in the U.S. have seen <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/health/covid-19-pandemic-mental-health-children/index.html#:~:text=Children%27s%20hospitals%20around%20the%20country%20say%20they%20have%20seen%20a%20meteoric%20rise%20in%20the%20number%20of%20children%20who%20need%20mental%20health%20help">dramatic increases</a> in children seeking mental health services.
Without a doubt, the presumption that COVID was not a threat to children has proven to be terribly wrong.
<h4>Mental Health and Obesity: A Two-Way Street</h4>
The relationship between mental health and obesity goes in two directions. Stress, distress, and adverse childhood experiences can fuel weight gain. On the other side of this link, it’s also clear that obesity can fuel mental health distress. Bullying and social isolation are significant problems for a child living with obesity. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25955676/">Public health messaging</a> that tended to blame children and parents for this metabolic disease has long been a problem.
As just one example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2021.29011.editorial">screening and singling out children with obesity in school</a> was once a popular policy. Research now shows that it offers no benefit while having the potential to do a great deal of harm.
<h4>World Mental Health Day 2021</h4>
Today is World Mental Health Day. The rallying cry is to make mental health care for all a reality. Recognizing the link between obesity and mental health makes this especially important for people living with obesity. Even more so, it is important for children. Let’s resolve to live up to this challenge and take it one step further. Let’s all do our part to stop the harm that weight stigma does to children who are living with obesity.
<hr/>
Ted Kyle is a pharmacist and health innovator living in Pittsburgh. He is also a tireless advocate for people living with obesity. His widely-read daily commentary, published at <a href="http://conscienhealth.org/news">conscienhealth.org/news</a>, reaches an audience of more than 15,000 thought leaders in health and obesity.

Doubling COVID’s Toll: Mental Health and Obesity

OAC Resource Library

<h1>Obesity is a complex chronic disease – OCAN is leading the fight for comprehensive care.</h1>

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Recently, several opinion pieces have discussed the importance of addressing obesity. However, they have omitted one obvious solution: access to a continuum of obesity care that includes medical treatment options.&nbsp;The Washington Post published <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/healthy-eating-obesity-diabetes-heart-diseases/2021/11/30/3b4e2cfc-51fe-11ec-9267-17ae3bde2f26_story.html">Millions are suffering from diet-related diseases. What number will make us pay attention?</a>, which identifies the urgent threat of diet-related disease in our country. Yet the author fails to acknowledge that to make true progress in addressing obesity, we must combine prevention and dietary changes with additional treatment measures. And in The Hill’s <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/583147-time-to-think-beyond-the-vax-reflections-from-a-covid-stricken-doc">Time to think beyond the vax? Reflections from a COVID-stricken doc</a>, we again see the urgent threat of obesity highlighted with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the barriers in accessing vital obesity treatments are overlooked.&nbsp;Both authors are correct to highlight the threat of obesity in the United States. We have seen significant increases in obesity prevalence in recent years, with 42.4% of adults 20 and older currently living with the disease. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the threat of obesity, as people with obesity experience more severe outcomes and deaths from COVID-19 – 78% of those hospitalized for COVID-19 have obesity or overweight.&nbsp;However, when discussing the threat of this disease, the media must also note that there are concrete steps we can take to treat obesity. Studies show that long-term, effective obesity care that improves health often requires medical intervention beyond lifestyle and dietary changes, including behavioral therapy, medications, or bariatric surgery.&nbsp;<h3>What We Are Up Against</h3>Unfortunately, significant barriers exist in accessing these treatments. Currently under Medicare, intensive behavioral therapy can only be provided by primary care physicians, and anti-obesity medications are excluded from Part D coverage. We must take action to make obesity treatments more accessible, thereby making real and sustainable progress in our fight against this disease. The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA), currently re-introduced in Congress, seeks to expand Medicare coverage for these proven and effective obesity treatments.&nbsp;<h3>What You Can Do</h3>If we hope to reduce the threat of obesity, we must commit to making sustainable changes in how we think about and treat this disease. That starts with ensuring that the public narrative around obesity includes treatments and highlights policy solutions that can make obesity care more accessible.&nbsp;To contact your legislator about passing TROA, visit: <a href="https://obesitycareadvocacynetwork.com/advocacy/TROA">https://obesitycareadvocacynetwork.com/advocacy/TROA</a>Or, to learn more about people-first language, click here: <a href="https://obesitycareadvocacynetwork.com/news/fact-sheet-media-guidelines-for-covering-obesity-1">https://obesitycareadvocacynetwork.com/news/fact-sheet-media-guidelines-for-covering-obesity-1</a>

Blog: Why The Narrative Around Obesity Must Go Further

Obesity is a complex chronic disease – OCAN is leading the fight for comprehensive care.

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