Last week the 2019-2020 New York State Budget approved dramatic provisions to enhance parity for New Yorkers suffering from mental health disorders, substance use disorders and autism spectrum disorders.  The Behavioral Health Insurance Parity Reforms (BHIPR) landmark provisions apply to all New York State health insurance and health benefit plans including both group and individual plans […]

On February 26, 2019, the United States District Court released a ruling that United Behavioral Health (UBH/Optum), our country’s largest managed behavioral health care organization, maintained internal policies designed to save money by discriminating against individuals with mental health and substance abuse disorders.  Specifically, UBH was found to use flawed medical necessity criteria to broadly […]

Come As You Are… in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week Monday, February 25 through Friday, March 1, 2019 It may mean coming to treatment even when you don’t feel ready or even willing…. It may mean coming to treatment when you’ve tried treatment countless times already and each time you’ve found yourself back where […]

Extensive research validates that trauma and eating disorders frequently co-occur.  A 2012 study illuminated that “the vast majority of women and men with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED) reported a history of interpersonal trauma.”  The study estimates that in the female population* approximately 30% with diagnosis of bulimia and 20% […]

Persistent, significantly low or high body weight in children found to be linked to increased risk of eating disorders later on. A study published in the February 2019 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, found that persistent low body mass index (BMI) in children – as early as age […]

Unfortunately, for those living in larger bodies, size-related discrimination and bullying can be an everyday occurrence.  The pervasive negative judgement so many experience is in part fueled by our society’s obsession with thinness, typically seen as synonymous with beauty and health.  Further, we’re bombarded by messages that being overweight is not only unsightly but hazardous […]