Anna Westin Legacy Act requires additional funding to combat eating disorders

More than 20 years ago, a young girl wrote in her diary: I have no control over my mind. As long as I know what I need to do, it’s very difficult. My mood is very extreme. One minute I’m depressed, then another minute something will make me happy again. “

The girl was Anna Westin of Chaska, who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at the age of 16. After finishing her sophomore at the University of Oregon, Anna’s health was rapidly deteriorating. A 20-year-old child faced dangerously low body temperature and blood pressure, and liver dysfunction.

Her loss of appetite became so severe that her doctor urged her to be hospitalized. Anna’s parents were on board — they wanted to do whatever they could to save their children. However, from the late 90’s to the early 2000’s, loss of appetite was not a commonly recognized illness by health insurance companies.

Despite the urgency of her condition, Anna’s family learned that they had to wait until the insurance company “certified” her treatment, eventually delaying and limiting the care she received.

Anna committed suicide on February 17, 2000, at the age of 21, after suffering from the disease for five years.

After Anna’s death, her mother, Kitty Westin, began to put her sorrow into action. She began advocating better mental health care for people with eating disorders and opened Minnesota’s first home care center for eating disorders in Chaska. They called it Anna Westin House. Kitty Westin has also begun to support the establishment of the National Eating Disorders Union and work with lawmakers to make changes nationwide.

In this way, she connected with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Senator Amy Klobuchar has finally passed a bill that will make a big difference in how health insurance companies treat people with eating disorders.

It dates back to 2016. Currently, Klobuchar has introduced a new law. Anna Westin Legacy LawIt will permanently fund some of the programs created in 2016.

Anna Westin method

The Anna Westin Act was passed in December 2016, the first time in history that Congress has passed a law specifically designed to help people affected by eating disorders. The original legislation increased training and education on eating disorders and set insurer rules that meant that treatment of eating disorders in homes would be covered by most health insurance plans. It was enacted as part of the CURES Act of the 21st century.

The bill Center of Excellence for Eating DisordersNorth Carolina, Treatment and Research Facility.

Kitty Westin and the Westin family were overjoyed when the bill was finally passed.

“We had the ultimate result. For us, it was to prevent people from suffering as our daughter did, or as we have,” Kitty said.・ Westin Told Chaska Herald Immediately after the bill was passed. “It really helped us deal with the death of our daughter. Then I knew there was something good. It helped all of us to be healed.”

New promotion of Klobuchar’s financing

Number of emergency outpatient visits from people dealing with eating disorders Since the beginning of the pandemic, it has doubled among adolescent women..

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report Eating disorders can be caused by pandemic-related risk factors such as lack of structure in daily life, mental distress, and altered food availability. It can also be exacerbated by reduced access to mental health care during a pandemic.Also for eating disorders Second highest mortality rate However, only one in three people affected by eating disorders is treated for mental illness after opioid addiction.

Klobuchar has not given up on promoting legislation to help people with eating disorders and other mental illnesses. And as many mental health conditions became more widespread during the pandemic, Klobuchar decided that it was time to introduce a law to raise more money.

Klobuchar, along with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) Anna Westin Legacy Law.. The bill authorizes the Center to fund $ 5 million in each fiscal year from 2023 to 2027. Of excellence for eating disorders. A previously adopted law approved $ 3.75 million.

Funding includes screening, simple interventions, and adaptation of referrals to treatment models for pediatric patients, expansion of face-to-face and online training modules for doctors’ eating disorders, and consultations with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs on the treatment of eating disorders. Will be devoted to. Integrate disability for veterans and military personnel, and referrals to screening, intervention, and treatment models into an electronic health record system.

“In memory of Anna Westin, Minnesota, who died tragically from an eating disorder at the young age of 21, a bipartisan law to strengthen education and training on eating disorders through the creation of the Center of Excellence in Eating Disorders. I’m proud to have been successful in taking the lead, “said Klobshire. “Now I’m rejoining a bipartisan group of colleagues to support the center and help countless families affected by eating disorders receive the care and services they need.”

Klobuchar’s bill is an important next step in continuing to provide research and technical assistance to healthcare providers, said Christine Pete, director of the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders.

“This law ensures that education and training on eating disorders is an integral part of the health care perspective, thereby enhancing our ability to detect and properly manage these life-threatening conditions. “Masu,” Pete said.