Congressional Briefing on Fear of Fat and Weight Stigma

Health Reform Q&A

In our previous post (click here) we requested your questions about the Health Reform bill. Thank you all for your questions. See below for your questions and our answers.

Q: What is Health Reform?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is a comprehensive bill that reformed health care. It was signed into law in March 2010. It is also known as: The Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare or Health Reform; all of these names refer to this bill.

Q:  I have heard the EDC talk about ‘Parity’ is this different than Health Reform?

Yes, Parity refers to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act and requires that insurers offer the same level of benefits for mental health or substance use disorders that they do for medical treatment. If your health insurance covers medical or surgical coverage, then they must cover mental health disorders at parity.

Q: What part of Health Reform is especially important to the EDC?

A key area that the EDC is monitoring and influencing is the essential health benefits that will be covered by the benchmark plans sold in the state exchanges. Health insurance exchanges will be marketplaces where small businesses and individuals who don’t have health insurance through their employer can purchase health plans. 

As the ACA is implemented and as the Exchanges go live in 2014, it is essential that we ensure that all mental health services are covered at parity and that all levels of care are covered. The first key step for us is enrollment into the Exchanges, which will begin October 1, 2013.

Q: Does Health Reform matter to me?

Certainly, there may be changes that apply to you, personally (mandatory coverage, etc.), but for eating disorders coverage it is important that the exchanges cover eating disorders at parity. See these blog posts for additional details.

Q: Will the EDC continue to update me, on Health Reform?

Yes, of course.

Join the Movement!

This is the EDC’s 12^th year of lobby days. We are an institution on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress and their staff know us. In Washington, we have put eating disorders on the map.  Members of Congress and other national organizations whom are our allies trust us because of the relationships we have built over the years of meetings, briefings, and education we have done on the Hill with you. So join us September 18 and be part of this movement. You can make a difference; you can find your voice!

The Congressional briefing this year will be titled “Fear of Fat and Weight Stigma: Why We Need to Address the Intersection of Obesity and Eating Disorders.” Our panel of speakers will educate you and motivate you to make a difference.

If you haven't lobbied before, don't worry we will train you and prepare you. You'll go to the Hill with confidence and as part of a team. To see how lobby days work click here for our video that explains it all.

Joining us on the Hill is an incredibly empowering experience. You will be able to make your voice heard and make a difference for eating disorders policy. If you’re looking for motivation watch our video ‘I Stand For FREED’ here

Join us. Join the movement! Click here to register now for lobby day.

EDC is Looking for Qualified State Leaders

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be implemented and will have a great impact on health care coverage for people with eating disorders. A key area that we are monitoring and influencing is the essential health benefits that will be covered by the benchmark plans sold in the state exchanges. We’ve released a survey that we conducted of all of fifty states and the District of Columbia’s proposed benchmark plans (see our blog for details). We discovered a wide disparity in the anticipated mental health service coverage between states.

As the ACA is implemented and as the Exchanges go live in 2014, it is essential that we ensure that all mental health services are covered at parity and that all levels of care are covered. The first key step for us is enrollment into the Exchanges, which will begin October 1, 2013.  We realize that this is an especially crucial time to ensure that people with eating disorders are able to receive the treatment and care that they both need and deserve.

If you are interested in becoming a State Leader and helping us influence the implementation of these plans in your state, please email manager@eatingdisorderscoalition.org for more information.

Health Reform Q&A

We are often asked specific questions about the Affordable Care Act. We know it’s a complicated topic, and it’s confusing about the effect it will have on eating disorders. We want to help. Do you have a question about health reform and eating disorders? Do you wonder what the essential health benefits are? Or why the EDC keeps talking about the state exchanges? We want to answer your questions for you! Send your questions to Melanie Morris at mmorris@eatingdisorderscoalition.org and she’ll answer them in a blog post.

Educating Congress One Office At a Time

The EDC is an organization that’s primary purposes is to influence federal policy. We do that through a variety of ways, we draft and advocate for legislation such as the FREED Act, work with the Administration such as submitting comments of proposed rules, and we work with Congress on relevant pending legislation. However, at the most basic level, our work consists of meeting with Members of Congress and/or their staff and educating them on eating disorders. We brief them on the seriousness of eating disorders, we discuss current eating disorders policy, relevant legislation, and current problems with eating disorders coverage. 

Some Members of Congress we frequently work with are great champions for our cause. We developed a relationship with them and they rely on our expertise and advice. However, we need more Members to care about this important cause. We need to develop these relationships with more Members, we need eating disorders to be an issue that every Member of Congress cares about. Because of this we meet with every office every year. 

There are 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 6 delegates (these non-voting members represent District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands). The EDC meets with every office every year. That is 541 offices every year. We meet with Members and/or their staff and we educate them on eating disorder, we discuss the FREED Act, Parity concerns, and ask for their support. Every year. Every office. 

Join us on September 18 for Lobby Day, and meet with a few of these offices yourself and help get your Members of Congress to champion this great cause with us.  

What Does the Latest Health Reform Delay Mean?

You may have heard the news that there was a delay on Health Reform.  What does that mean? Will it effect eating disorders coverage? What parts of health reform do matter? 

As you likely know, there are several components to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also called ‘Health Reform.’ The EDC is working to insure the implementation of the ACA is the most beneficial to people with eating disorders, and providers treating eating disorders, but also to monitor the implementation so we can keep our members aware of current events and alert them to any concerns. 

Last week, the Treasury Department announced that it would delay enforcement of the employer mandate penalties and reporting requirements. The practical implication of this is pretty minimal as most employers subject to the mandate already offer insurance.  The mandate covers only employers with more than 50 full-time (or full-time-equivalent) employees.  It’s important to note that 98% of employers with more than 200 employees offer health insurance, as do 94% of employers with 50-100 employees[1].  The majority of employers currently offer insurance that is both affordable and adequate, (terms defined in the ACA) so it is unlikely this will have a huge practical impact.  

As mentioned in a previous blog post (click here) the primary focus of the Eating Disorders Coalition is the implementation of the state exchanges. In three months, we expect the first open enrollment period for the exchanges to begin. The EDC is working to educate our members, and to work in the states about any coverage changes expected by the ACA.

We will continue blogging on the aspects of the ACA that are applicable to eating disorders and keep you up to date.

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[1] KFF http://kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2012-section-2/