PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Dec 20, 2012
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to include information on the coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity in the "Medicare and You Handbook."
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to give Medicare beneficiaries, primary care physicians, and other appropriate service providers and suppliers distinct, written notification regarding the coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity under Medicare as an additional preventive service.
Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a plan to coordinate the efforts of all HHS offices and agencies to treat, reduce, and prevent obesity and overweight in the adult population.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Authorizes the Secretary, in addition to qualified primary care physicians and other primary care practitioners, to allow other appropriate health care providers, instructors trained in lifestyle counseling programs such as the Diabetes Prevention Program, and programs recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide intensive behavioral therapy for obesity.
Authorizes the Secretary to cover chronic weight management drugs under SSA title XVIII part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) if the Secretary determines that such coverage is appropriate.
People & committees
Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] · D–DE
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.3699 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.3699 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.3699 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.3699 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.