Enteral nutrition reimbursement - the rationale for the policy: the US perspective.

Enteral nutrition (EN) is generally defined by third party payers as tube feeding for patients who cannot take food orally. EN is widely accepted in the United States as an effective, often life-sustaining therapy. Coverage and payment policies for EN differ among payers and settings. These differences often may depend on whether EN is reimbursed as a discrete therapy or subsumed into a larger benefit. In the US, the Medicare and Medicaid programs are the major public payers for EN. EN may be susceptible to overuse, especially in the long-term care setting. The trends in coverage and payment for EN suggest tighter reimbursement; competitive bidding between suppliers and data-driven performance measurement and payments may be in the future for EN reimbursement.