The-F-Word.org

Last week we discussed a special feature by The Sun on the personal stories of eating disorder sufferers. Read the discussion here.

I’m glad to report The Sun has followed up on this feature, with a second part looking at the financial difficulties and hurdles facing one who decides to seek out treatment. Go here to read the story.

Writer Tara Quinn starts off by making a pointed clarification about eating disorders, a point which all too often escapes insurance companies:

An eating disorder is not an extreme diet. A diet can be stopped. Sufferers of bulimia or anorexia not only get a high from restricting their food intake, they can’t stop the habit without treatment that may not be available.

For an eating disorder sufferer, admitting the disease is the first step; deciding to seek treatment is often the next and hardest decision. The disorder may be eroding health and happiness, but it’s all you have and you cling to it tenaciously and defiantly. It is what defines you.

Many people erroneously think those with eating disorders want to die, but they’re wrong. Women develop eating disorders because they want to live. A contradiction, yes. Eating disorders erode all semblance of health and happiness, sucking the marrow of life vampishly. But it’s the only way many know in order to cope and survive.

But after one makes that crucial and difficult decision to seek out treatment, a gauntlet of health insurance red-tape looms. There are only 12 states across the nation which mandate health insurance companies treat eating disorders. Most others offer little to no coverage.

And even when insurers do provide coverage, the co-payment can be “larger for someone with an eating disorder than it would be for someone with a medical issue or chemical dependency issue,” said Eating Disorder Advocates co-founder Christine Coniglio.

The justification of non-coverage by many insurers lies in the longevity of most treatment plans for eating disorders:

“We find people with eating disorders are chronic and there’s not a cure,” explained Deb Tomba, director of care management and behavioral health for Medical Mutual of Ohio. “We’ve seen people treated for years and years, show slight improvement, then end up back in the hospital. It’s a very hard disease to treat, so we try to catch them early.”

Treatment of an eating disorder can take years. For many, recovery is the carrot forever dangling out of reach. There is no magic bullet treatment plan. There is no cure, the final symptom is suicide.

Eating disorders are as real and deadly as cancer. Insurance companies are long overdue in recognizing this and treating eating disorders as the very real psychological diseases they are.