Here’s some good news for people in Illinois who binge/purge/restrict, et al: The state of Illinois hopes to become the 17th state to require insurance companies to pay for treatment of eating disorders. The bill is currently on Governor Rod Blagojevich’s desk pending review. The bigger issue on the table, of course, is the great inequity that exists between so-called physical coverage and psychiatric coverage. (As if your brain isn’t part of your body.) Says the Chicago Tribune:

More than 12 million Americans, mostly young women, have eating disorders in their lifetime, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders […] Among patients with anorexia, almost half of all deaths are suicides, according to ANAD. Yet many insurers balk at covering the tab, which can run as high as $2,500 a day.

We’ll go one further and say that if this disease were as openly male, (we won’t say it doesn’t affect men because we know many men for whom it is a problem), as it is female, there wouldn’t be so much ignorance about it. Here’s hoping this insurance trend catches on. The article also notes that in New Jersey, Aetna recently settled a class-action suit filed by 100 New Jersey families who said they were denied coverage for eating disorder treatment. The company paid a settlement and agreed provide coverage for eating disorders the same way it treats other mental illnesses. Our hats are off to anyone who can get an insurance company to pay money.

Anorexia, bulimia may soon become part of mandatory health insurance in Illinois [Chicago Tribune]