Some insurance companies will only cover treatment for eating disorders if the patient meets all of the criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a guidebook for diagnosing mental illnesses, doctors say.
Patients who don't match all the symptoms, which include severe weight loss, are labeled "eating disorder not otherwise specified" (EDNOS) and sometimes don't qualify for the level of care they need.
A new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found more than 60 percent of patients with EDNOS met medical criteria for hospitalization and were, on average, sicker than patients diagnosed with full-blown bulimia.
That means more than 60 percent of patients with EDNOS may have trouble getting care covered by an insurance company, said Dr. Rebecka Peebles of the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Labels: treatment
Posted By: Aspen/CRC