Posted on 05/25/2018 8:40:38 AM PDT by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Dying anorexia patient, 25, is denied treatment for the disorder by her insurance company who claim 'it's a luxury' as her weight drops to 58lbs
A 25-year-old woman with a debilitating eating disorder is preparing for the possibility of an early death as her insurance company treats a medical program she requires to live on as a luxury.
Katrina Howard, who succumbed to anorexia nervosa in her early teen years, has been sent from hospital to hospital for treatment - but doctors fear they are running out of effective options for the young woman - who has whittled to a frightening 58 pounds.
Howard grew up in a low-income family and is insured by Georgia Medicaid, a modest medical assistance program co-funded by the state and federal government.
Her current doctor, Paul Robinson, of the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, spoke this week about the troubling battle Howard has had with the company.
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(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Terris list
woman with anexoria denied health insurance overage.
Is Karen Carpenter’s brother still alive? That is the very person who needs to weigh in on this story!!!
Mental heath as well as physical and it’s VERY HARD to treat.
Do you remember Karen Carpenter of “The Carpenters”? She had a beautiful voice and she died of this!!!
Is the story giving the skinny or what?
Food is so yummy, and women are so beautiful, I will never understand anorexia or homosexuality.
I went through this nightmare,and it IS a nightmare,38 years ago when little help was available.
We were lucky and sought help early,looking at this young woman makes me very sad.
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It would appear Richard Carpenter is still alive.
Oh that’s so wrong! So very wrong! LOL
It is actually entirely "funded" by the taxpayers of Georgia and the United States of America.
The question for everyone here is, "do you believe the people who are paying the bills should have a say (through their elected representatives) over what they will and won't pay for?"
That it is - people really dont understand about it until they are a part of it. I used to be in the just eat more crowd. I understand so much more now. It really is a nightmare
A few years ago I watched two good documentaries on Anorexia (so, of course, that makes me an expert).
It’s heartbreaking and takes a special, very knowledgeable doctor to work with these patients. Merely getting them to eat something is pointless. Their self-worth is so low that it goes beyond a mental illness and is really an emotional illness.
They must be nurtured back to health slowly and with great care. I have no idea how an insurance company would know how to count the cost of such care.
I would imagine it’s a 12 step program just like the AA and NA. If the patient is willing to help herself she could sign herself in at a state mental facility in Georgia.
So none of these medical centers think her life is worth spending their own money on, but they’ll gladly ask for yours.
The obvious problem here is that the anorexia is a cry for attention. So she’s never going to voluntarily give it up UNLESS it no longer works as an attention-grabbing measure.
By lavishing her with attention, they are ensuring her problem will never be cured. This is massive positive reinforcement to a mental problem - big time malpractice if you ask me.
So, again, why is this deemed “medical?” Talking with other people can be done outside a medical setting.
Death panel by taxpayer?
Ditto.
How a man can look at a woman and still prefer a man is inconceivable to me.
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