ACTION ALERT! PLEASE ASK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO CO-SPONSOR “THE MEDICAL NUTRITION EQUITY ACT”
The MNEA would require ALL insurance plans in the U.S. to cover the medical nutrition (formula and low protein modified foods) required to treat PKU and other inherited metabolic disorders – regardless of age, employer, or where you live.
Without treatment, PKU affects the brain and causes intellectual and developmental disabilities, seizures, mood disorders, and other devastating health consequences. We need your help!
Please help now by asking your U.S. House Representative and two U.S. Senators to co-sponsors the Medical Nutrition Equity Act of 2021. This federal legislation is bipartisan and will save and improve lives.
Where can I find contact information for my House Representative and two Senators?
U.S. House Look Up Tool
U.S. Senate Look Up Tool
No advocacy experience? No problem! Your personal story and why YOU want the MNEA passed is most important. 4 simple steps to making a difference!:
- Call your legislator’s D.C. offices and ask for the name and email address of their Health Legislative Assistant (HLA). If for any reason you can’t get through to the D.C. office, call their local office.
- Send each HLA an email. Let them know why you need their help. See if you can setup time to talk over the phone or on Zoom/Google Meet/etc.
- When you connect with them (over email, phone, or online), simply share why this legislation is important to you or your loved one. For an online meeting, having a can/packet/or container of medical formula to show them is a great idea!
- Ask if the legislator will cosponsor the Medical Nutrition Equity Act (H.R. 3783/S. 2013) . Let them know how much it would mean to you. Follow up often until they say yes!
What else is good to know?
- To sign-on, their offices can contact the Health Legislative Assistant for any of the MNEA lead sponsors: Representative Jim McGovern, Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, Senator Bob Casey, and Senator Joni Ernst.
- The MNEA is bipartisan in the U.S. House and Senate and both bills are identical (that’s good!). The MNEA has been officially reintroduced in Congress and the current bill numbers are H.R. 3783 (House bill) and S. 2013 (Senate bill). Members of Congress in both the House and Senate can now sign on as co-sponsors. If your member of Congress cosponsored during the 2019-2020 session, we need them to sign on again. Let them know the bill has been reintroduced and you would like them to cosponsor the current MNEA.
- Do you have friends and family in other states? Ask them to contact their Members of Congress too.
Anything else that would help pass the MNEA? Yes!
Share Your Story on the NutritionEquity.org Website. Doing so will make it easy for leaders of the National PKU Alliance, National PKU News, and Georgia PKU Connect to share a lot of patient stories with legislators at one time. Legislators want to know people in their states and districts care about the MNEA.
Advocacy Quick Links, Documents, and News:
MNEA Fact Sheet (great to share with congressional office staff/HLAs)
Inherited Metabolic Disorder/PKU MNEA Fact Sheet for Members of Congress (also great to share with congressional office staff/HLAs)
Official MNEA House Bill (H.R. 3783) with Current Co-Sponsor List
Official MNEA Senate Bill (S.2013) with Current Co-Sponsor List
Patients & Providers for Medical Nutrition Equity (Coalition of National Organization Supporting the MNEA, online patient stories, and bill information)
National PKU Alliance Advocacy Page
Members of Congress who co-sponsored the MNEA during the last session of Congress
Latest U.S. Senate Phenylketonuria Awareness Day Resolution
Grassley is Original Co-Sponsor of Medical Nutrition Equity Act (2017)
American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) Efforts Lead to American Medical Association’s Support of Health Coverage for Medical Food Products
