Reflections, Reflections

With an estimated 8 million Americans suffering from anorexia and bulimia, state lawmakers are pushing legislation that would require Massachusetts insurers to pay the full costs of treating eating disorders.

[...]

According to Forman, up to 10 percent of anorexic patients will die from their illness. Other specialists said requiring insurers to cover treatment is increasingly important as the number of men and women suffering from anorexia and bulimia grows.

“Sometimes eating disorders are seen as this fad, a bunch of spoiled brats struggling with problems,” said Dr. David Herzog, a psychiatrist and founder of the Harvard Medical School Eating Disorders Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. “But that’s just not the case.

There’s an ever-increasing number of 50 and 60-year-olds and more and more young kids who have this.”