Fighting for full coverage of anorexia treatment

On Oct 22nd, we had written about a NJ mom who was fighting with her health insurance company to provide coverage for long term treatment for anorexia nervosa. Currently, health insurance companies are not required to pay for extended care for those with anorexia because they consider it a mental illness that does not “have a proven physiological basis.”

We really don’t know what they are waiting for---perhaps more lawsuits against them? According to the article in the NY Times, Insurer Sued for Refusing to Pay Costs of Anorexia, in 2001, Blue Cross and Blue Shield had to pay the state of Minnesota $8.2M to settle a lawsuit because they refused to pay for the treatment of a young anorexic victim who committed suicide. Now, this new lawsuit will probably spearhead a class action suit either against that particular insurance company or against all health insurance companies.

Isn’t it just cheaper for these insurance companies to pay for the treatment?

Oh wait… it doesn’t really matter--- they can just raise the premiums again. This is a vicious circle--- higher premiums for less coverage resulting in more lawsuits (because they should be covering certain situations) which they settle but then turn around and charge higher premiums.

We hope this does turn into a class action case. Anorexia is a very serious matter and complete treatment should be fully covered by the insurance companies. That’s what we are paying the premiums for!