Aetna faces anorexia coverage suit

A New Jersey family has sued Aetna for failing to cover the full costs of their daughter's anorexia treatment. The couple has incurred about $100,000 in medical bills for their daughter's 101 days of inpatient treatment of anorexia, mortgaging their house to meet the tab. But the Aetna U.S Healthcare HMO has only agreed to cover 35 of those days, citing limits on mental health conditions that aren't "biologically based." NIMH researchers dispute the claim that anorexia has no physical basis, citing evidence that this illnesses has been linked to altered brain and activity and genetic inheritance. The family's attorney, for his part, says that state law requires the health plan to cover mental health conditions on the same basis as physiological diseases in any event. Contending that many families have been put in a similar position, the attorney is seeking to get the suit certified as a class action.

For more information on the suit:
- read this article in The New York Times

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