Five Things You Should Know About Your Insurance
Yesterday I was in Washington, DC with the Eating Disorders Coalition and many eating disorder/mental health advocates from across the country for the 2015 Spring Lobby Day. This time we were focusing our energies on the Anna Westin Act of 2015. This legislation would clarify the mental health parity act (so that insurance companies stop unjustly denying patients treatment), increase training about eating disorders for health professionals, and encourage truth in advertising. However — I will write more about that at another time! For now, I wanted to share with you a post that I wrote for...
Read MoreRefinery29 Accuses Author of Claiming to Cure Bulimia
For the last few weeks I have been writing for the Proud2BMe.org Media Response Team. A dozen or so 20-somethings (and some younger) keep an eye out for images, articles, and anything else that sustains the thin ideal, unrealistic body image, fat (or thin) shaming, and so on and so forth. My editor recently alerted us to a recent book review put out by the website Refinery29 about a forthcoming book called Chasing Hunger. According to Refinery29 writer Kelsey Miller, the book is “so outrageous and offensive that it’s almost laughable. Almost.” And indeed — what Miller recounted was...
Read MoreAnthem, Mental Health’s Public Enemy No. 1, Called Out in “Denied”
On Sunday, 60 Minutes ran a segment called “Denied” that investigated the routine practice of insurance companies to deny mentally ill patients the treatment their doctors prescribe. Since the segment premiered, multiple people have alerted me to the video or sent me links directly, as it is no secret by now that I am one of the thousands who have been and continue to be negatively impacted by insurance providers. The clip was hard to watch. It opened with the story of Katherine West, who died at age 15 of bulimia (which caused heart failure) after being cut from her residential...
Read MoreHow Stigma Keeps Us Sick
Stigma. It exists and it impacts all of us who are affected by mental illness. I’m sure this isn’t new information, but a reminder now and then about the dangers of stigma doesn’t hurt. Plus, I’m feeling rather irate after the week I’ve just had. As you might know from reading my last few posts, my battle against Blue Cross Blue Shield, thankfully, ended well. Ultimately, I got (mostly) what I needed: I was granted 10 more days in treatment. But it came at a cost. During my week without treatment, my eating disorder was constantly at my heels. In order to build my case...
Read MorePatient Advocacy: Winning the Battle Against Blue Cross Blue Shield
As much as I don’t want to spend another minute on this topic, I think it’s necessary to talk about this last week and what has happened with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Let’s put the happy ending of the story first: I won my battle with Blue Cross Blue Shield and was able to return to treatment as of last night. I have learned two things from the experience of successfully going up against my insurance company on my own: It is possible to reverse an insurance company’s decision. They bank on most people giving up after the first few “no’s,” so you just have to make sure to push them far enough....
Read More
