Athletic trainers stress safe weight loss methods - USATODAY.com

Athletic trainers stress safe weight loss methods - USATODAY.com

article on men and eating disorders

http://www.examiner.com/eating-disorder-in-baltimore/interview-with-patrick-bergstrom

EDC Member Org. BEDA featured on ABC

Bariatric Surgery and Eating Disorders: 'Lap Band Made Me Bulimic' - ABC News


Thank you to Chevese Turner, Found of BEDA (Binge Eating Disorder Association), for her continuously valuable and courageous contributions to the field.

AED launches new Medical Care Standards for Eating Disorders

Please follow the link below to read the revised AED Medical Care Standards. "Critical Points for Early Recognition and Medical Risk Management in the Care of Individuals with Eating Disorders"


http://www.aedweb.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Medical_Care_Standards&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2413

What if: Medicare ends and Medicaid loses $770 Billion?

Reps. Waxman and Pallone Release New Reports for All 435 Congressional
Districts on Impact of Republican Plans to End Medicare as We Know It and to Slash Medicaid

Jun 3, 2011

Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce

Committee, and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., Ranking Member of the Health

Subcommittee, released new analyses detailing the impact of the Republican Medicare and
Medicaid proposals on each congressional district.

Below is the full text of the letter sent by Reps. Waxman and Pallone to their colleagues to
assist them in understanding the ramifications of the epublican Medicare and Medicaid proposals.
* *

June 3, 2011* *

Dear Colleague:* *

            The Republican’s budget would end Medicare as we know it.  It also slashes Medicaid
programs that cover millions of seniors in nursing homes and provide basic coverage for tens of
millions of children. These Republican proposals would have a devastating impact on every
congressional district in the country for generations to come.

            The Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it, raises costs for seniors and
individuals with disabilities, reduces their benefits, and puts private insurance companies in
charge of seniors’ health care.  For current beneficiaries, important benefits – such as closing
the hole in Medicare’s drug coverage – would be immediately eliminated.  For individuals age 54
and under, Medicare’s longstanding guarantee of comprehensive coverage would be replaced
with an inadequate federal subsidy to buy private health insurance.  By design, this federal
contribution will not keep pace with medical costs, shifting thousands of dollars in costs onto
individuals. 

            Similarly, the Republican Medicaid plan eliminates Medicaid’s guarantee of coverage.  
Medicaid would be turned into a block grant, and the federal contribution to Medicaid would be
slashed by nearly $800 billion over the next decade.  Other changes proposed by House
Republicans would allow states to eliminate coverage for seniors, nursing home care, individuals
with disabilities, children, pregnant women, and others currently enrolled in Medicaid.  These
changes would have a profound impact on Medicaid’s ability to provide health coverage to
millions of Americans, and will shift tens of billions of dollars in costs to state taxpayers.

             To assist members in understanding the ramifications of these policies, we asked the
Democratic staff of the Committee on Energy and Commerce to analyze the impacts of the
Republican Medicare and Medicaid proposals in every congressional district in the country.

             Today, we are releasing these analyses, which can be found online here
http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=page/district-by-district-impact-of-republican-medicare-plan-and-medicaid-cuts

The reports for your district will explain in detail the impacts of Republican Medicare and
Medicaid proposals on your constituents. We hope this information is useful to you and your
constituents as you consider these policies.

Sincerely,

 Henry A. Waxman

 Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce

 Frank Pallone, Jr.

Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce

Denying Residential Treatment is a Violation of Federal Law

EDC Takes a Stand: Denying Residential Treatment is a Violation of the Federal Parity Law

In February of this year the EDC launched the Hold Insurance Companies Accountable Campaign as a response to a number of insurance companies that are categorically denying residential treatment for eating disorders.

Yet parity experts agree that individuals are entitled to receive such treatment under the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343).

The Act requires that any group health plan that includes mental health and substance use disorder benefits along with standard medical and surgical coverage must treat them equally. According to the nationally recognized law firm of Patton Boggs, the statute is clear that limits on the scope and duration of treatment must be applied no more restrictively in the mental health benefit than in the medical/surgical benefit. The statute defines treatment limitations as “limits on the frequency of treatment, number of visits, days of coverage, or other similar limits on the scope or duration of treatment.”

The EDC finds it insulting that some insurance companies are responding to federal legislation that was designed to provide consumers with more access to care - by providing less!

Not complying with the parity regulations is a calculated effort to avoid costs at the expense of people's health and lives. The EDC argues that treatment should be determined by severity and type of illness, rather than what is arbitrarily allowed by an individual’s insurance company.

The EDC's Hold Insurance Companies Accountable Campaign is working with families, specialized attorneys such as Lisa Kantor, and experts in the field to put an end to such discriminatory and deadly practices through legal and political advocacy.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

We have heard from many people who have been denied insurance coverage for residential treatment - yet we need to hear from hundreds more!

If you have been denied insurance coverage for residential treatment email us at: EDCHoldsInsuranceAccountable@yahoo.com


Together we can and will make a difference.




Jeanine Cogan, Ph.D.
Policy Director
Eating Disorders Coalition
www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org
202-352-3208