How’s this for twisted: An insurance company, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, have demanded that the parents of minor children who suffer from anorexia turn over their children’s writings on MySpace and Facebook, as well as any emails where they discuss their problems.
The insurer says that eating problems are not “biologically based” and are therefore not covered. From Law.com:
In December, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz ordered the plaintiffs to turn over by Jan. 15 the children’s e-mails, diaries and other writings about their “eating disorders or manifestations/symptoms thereof, and related health conditions” that had been “shared with others, including entries on Web sites such as ‘Facebook’ or ‘MySpace.’”
On Tuesday, Shwartz ordered the plaintiffs to certify by Feb. 15 whether they have produced everything in their possession in response to the discovery order and what steps they have taken to comply.
Shwartz’s December order narrowed the scope of an October order that was not restricted to writings shared with other people. The plaintiffs had asked Shwartz to reconsider the October order on the ground that the writings were therapy tools, not meant to be shown to others, and that their disclosure would cause anxiety and possibly even a relapse.
Aww, c’mon. That’s messed up. Does a court really need to dissect some poor kid’s miserable diary entries to figure out if a disease is biologically based?
MySpace, Facebook Pages Called Key to Dispute Over Insurance Coverage for Eating Disorders [LAW]
(Photo:Teen Angst)
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As far as I know, Anorexia is not “biologically” based, although it may be secondary to a biologically-based illness such as depression, bi-polar, schizophrenia, body dysmorphic disorder…
Schizophrenia is a mental illness with known biological components. If I were schizophrenic, and I wrote about hearing voices on my blog, would that somehow prove that it wasn’t biological and the insurance company didn’t have to cover me?
I don’t know what on earth the insurance companies hope to find in some teenage girl’s blog entries beyond confirmation that she thinks she’s fat.
@Gorky:
And where did you go to medical school?
@Gorky: It’s not biological and it’s not mental??? Hmm, that is so interesting and totally different than the research I’ve read and teachings I’ve received as part of the clinical psychology PhD program that I’m currently enrolled in! Care to let me know where you’ve gotten your information from?
@boobaloob:
It’s common sense. You’re skinny, then eat. Too many people overanalyze stuff. Its like this epidemic of supposed ADD in kids. When I went to school there was no such thing (and it was only 20 years ago). Some kids had bad parents who worked instead of staying home and raising them when they were young and they acted out. They were paddled for it IN SCHOOL and they didnt act up again. ADD is an excuse for bad parenting. So instead of punishing the kids we make up a disease and drug them to calm them down. Ridiculous
@Gorky: You lost me at “had bad parents who worked”. Are you implying that dual income parents are bad parents? Are you also implying that kids who go to boarding school also have bad parents? This is the 21st century, not the 1950′s.
Sleazy. Remember kids, never disclose your real identity when you’re posting on the Internet.
I long for the good old days when that was supposed to protect you from child molesters, not insurance companies.
@Gorky: It’s general knowledge that Anorexia is classified as a legitimate mental disorder (along with a whole host of other disorders that self-appointed “perfect” people insist don’t exist).
I’m sure all the parents and friends of Anorexia victims who have committed suicide would agree that the victim was “just trying to get attention.”(/sarcasm)
@ampersand
No I’m not a scientologist – trolling? I am a mental health professional and in my part of town we don’t typically use “bilogical” in our lingo. We use things like “oranically based”. . . I consider most mental illness to be effected by both internal causes and external causes. Like someone who may be a “worrier” but their mugged and their worrying has evolved into a diagnosable mental illnes because they are afraid to leave their house for 2 years . I only work in an in-patient psychaitric hospital though – so what do I know.
WTF. I once knew someone with anorexia, they died. I believe their death was considered “biologically based”.
WOW. Good job to the pencil pushing dickhead at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield that decided that lame ass idea would work. Did they get a bonus?
Shame, shame, shame on U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz.
@brokeincollege:
Yes I AM calling parents who both insist on working bad. My father worked 3 jobs so that my mother could stay home and raise me and my brother. Other parents could do the same. Or they could drive a 20 year old car like we did instead of the 2 new SUVs in the garage. They can also drop cable TV, High speed internet, and eat at home instead of going out. Raising kids is supposed to be a sacrifice.
@Gorky: In this day and age, sometimes it isn’t possible. Sometimes, both parents need to work. Don’t assume that no sacrifices are being made – on the contrary, when both parents work I think much is being sacrificed, as there isn’t one parent who can give 100% time and energy to a child. But when kids can have a better life because both parents are working, that means something else entirely. You say your father worked three jobs – what has that done to his health, his time with his family? If your mother had taken up one job, or a part-time job, would you have gotten more of your father in exchange for just a bit less from your mother? Why is it that two-income households are bad, because in many cases it is what needs to be done so that everyone can be healthy? Or is it that you feel that it is somehow more noble for one parent to work while the other one slaves away at home, raising the kids. There’s sacrifice in raising kids, period. There is always sacrifice, don’t cheapen the hard work of many two-income families by calling the parents bad because they worked hard for the sake of the entire family. It doesn’t make you better.
WOW, the sheer number of stories on this site of how unethical US insurance companies and hospitals are makes me glad I live in a country with free healthcare and medicine for all. I can walk in to any hospital present the government issued healthcard and get treated ont he spot, I wonder how long it willt ake the US government to work out, like Australia, France, UK and Canada have, that the cost of treatment is far outweighed by lost revenue from taxes, not only personal income tax but also business tax, as it has a flow on affect to consumer spending and productivity aswell.
@Gorky: common sense can’t always cancel out mental blocks (maybe more than people will give it a chance for, though)
some things you have to work through
you have to do more than just get them to eat, you have to get them to do it for themselves, because you can’t spend your whole life forcing them to do the right thing
it is true that our living conditions are part of the problem, but the environment can’t really be removed
I’d say you’re missing the point on needing a parent at home. Kids don’t necessarily ‘need’ one parent at home, they just need to be cared for. Probably ‘ideal’ would go beyond having *only* one parent at home. Ideal would probably be you have a farm or home business and the family works together so you have both parents around. Or parents that trade off who works so the kids get to have time with each parent.
Even children who have a parent at home can be short-changed by parents who don’t really interact with their kids.
Attention and care is the issue, and that can be provided even if both parents work.
@Gorky: By the way, some dual income families are doing it just to get by, not to live the high life.
And some families want to be able to spend time with both parents, so the work and the parenting is divided more equally.
Yeah, but it also said the insurance companies are requesting emails- emails are written by someone to another person, not the same as public info on Facebook, etc.
The parents should counter sue for violation of HIPPA in that the insurance companies are making there health condition known publicly.
I do believe that everything you put on the internet is fair game (that’s why we all use screen names instead of first/last, it’s just common sense) but then there’s the gray area of “private” profiles…where is the line between public information and private information. Where’s the line between journal entries vs. credit card info? It’s all so new there are no federal laws for it, so companies such as these really are free to make the laws up as they go.
This is crazy. Anorexia is not “biological”???
Any mental disorder is bioligically based – is the brain not part of your phisiology?
Sounds like this company is just looking for a reason not to help them.