EDC Urges You To Contact Your Representative

 Thank you to all who supported EDC’s success working with the Senate, where 11 Senators signed a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services urging her to provide more specific guidance in the parity rules so that people with eating disorders receive the care to which they are entitled.

The EDC continues our efforts to improve federal policy for persons with eating disorders.  As such, we were advocating for the House to send a similar letter. The more pressure we can put on HHS the more likely they are to clarify eating disorders coverage in the regulations.  Our efforts paid off! We now have a House side letter with three champions: Ted Deutch (D-FL), Hank Johnson (D-GA) and, Alcee Hastings (D-FL).

However, now we need to get Members to sign on to the letter and we need your help. The EDC’s asks you to please contact your Member of Congress. To contact your Representative:

1. Go to www.house.gov and enter your zip code in the box that says ‘Find My Representative’ 

2. Once you do that you’ll see your Member's information come up, click on the little envelope icon under your Member’s name to contact them. If for some reason this doesn’t work, go directly to their page and click on the ‘Contact Me’ link. That should take you to a web form for emailing the Member. 

3. Please send them a message urging them to sign on to this letter. We’ve included a template below, feel free to use this, customize it, or send your own.

 “My name is __(enter name)_ and I live in ___(city)__ in your District. I am contacting you to ask that you sign on to a letter to  HHS Secretary Sebelius to request clear language that ensures greater access to life-saving care for Americans with eating disorders in the final rules for the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (aka “parity”). This letter is being sent by Representatives Hank Johnson, Alcee Hastings, and Ted Deutch. Unfortunately even since the passage of federal parity, many people with eating disorders are being denied coverage in violation of the parity law.

I care about this issue because ________. 

Please sign on to this important letter by contacting Scott Goldstein in Representative Johnson's office or Larry Zaragoza in Representative Hastings' office or Joel Richard in Representative Deutch's office. I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you.”

Thank you for your help!