Eating Disorders Latest

“We are losing our case with insurance companies, they keep telling us that eating disorders are not biologically based.” According to Lynn Grefe, CEO of NEDA, the National Eating Disorder Association, that is, if not the key, a big one supporting the argument that eating disorders should be covered by insurance.

Leslie lipton, who wrote this book recounting her battle with anorexia, was hospitalized for three weeks at first…but the treatment didn’t end there. “Then I needed intensive therapy, a nutritionist, I needed doctors visits, a medical doctor. That was a long process but eventually positive,” says Leslie. She knows many parents don’t have the money to pay for the care she received.

“Worrying about how you are going to afford this, and worrying about how you are going to pay to keep your child alive.” Ms. Grefe adds, “Most illness you don’t cut me off after 28 days if I am not hunkey dory. Most states in this country do have mental health parity, they do cover depression, they do cover schizophrenia, they do cover mental disorders, eating disorders are not covered in those states that have mental health parity.”

 But Ms. Grefe says they should be, based upon this letter she received from the head of the national institute of mental health. In it, Dr. Thomas Insel writes, “While the symptoms are behavioral, this illness has a biological core, with genetic components, changes in brain activity and neural pathways currently under study.”

 “Only eleven states right now that do cover and enforce that you must include eating disorder treatment, and beyond that anorexia has the highest death rate amongst mental illness and we are losing some of our best and our brightest,” says Ms. Grefe. Tina Byram’s 15 year old daughter has been in and out of hospitalization for this clearly physical illness.

 “Three weeks ago relapsed to the point she had to be hospitalized for all kinds of disorders, heart related disorders, she had pancreatitis, she had liver enzyme problems. We’ve spent over 200,000 dollars we expect about 100, 150,000 more in the facility that she’s into now.” An expense most can’t afford. “We have to begin saving lives, the only thing that is criminal is for anybody in this country to die from anorexia or bulimia,” exclaims Ms. Grefe.

 Dr. Insel goes on to point out that most women with anorexia do recover with intense psychological and medical therapy. Thin premiered on HBO on Tuesday, and it will be playing throughout the month. HBO playdates: Nov. 17 (11:15 a.m.), 19 (1:30 p.m.), 22 (5:15 p.m.), 25 (3:30 p.m.) and 27 (12:15 p.m., 10:00 p.m.), and Dec. 5 (2:45 p.m.) and 11 (1:15 a.m.). HBO2 playdates: Nov. 16 (11:00 p.m.), 21 (7:00 a.m.) and 29 (2:20 a.m.), and Dec. 2 (4:10 a.m.), 15 (4:00 p.m.) and 30 (6:15 a.m.).