Provide Adequate Treatment for Eating Disorders in Maine

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of ANY mental illness; according to The Butterfly Foundation, the mortality rate of anorexia nervosa is 15-20%, and those with anorexia are 32 times more likely to die of suicide than their healthy peers. I believe this is because of the lack of treatment for those in Maine. If you knew you were struggling with a potentially deadly disease and knew there are no options for you to receive the help you need due to insurance coverage..would you want to seek help knowing it is just another closed door? If you had cancer and there were no treatment options for you in your State and your insurance wouldn't cover out of state, and you had no funds to send yourself..would you feel hopeless..like there is no reason for fighting when there are no chances you will get better without it? Unfortunately, most would say they felt hopeless and neglected by their State. I am calling all State representitives to read this petition, and take it to heart! There needs to be a change, a change for the better and for the sake of those struggling with this silent disease.

The reality is, is that eating disorders are a mental illness and can be paired with severe physical consequences if not treated promptly and accurately.
What is Eating Disorder treatment, you may ask? Well..it varies! Depending on what diagnosis you have, it can change but one treatment they all have in common is medical help, as well as mental help which can both be done WITH the needed support in a facility. Unfortuanly getting treatment in Maine is like this: An Oncologist tell you “look I know you’ve got breast cancer, but before you can get any treatment for it, we’ll have to wait for it to metastasizes into your spine and if you want any intensive treatment, we’ll have to wait until it’s in your liver and lungs also because we can only offer treatment to the most acutely ill in the State.” That would be considered ludicrous and in the front page news, yet Eating disorder patients are being knocked back for treatment all the time, just beaucse Maine has NO in State treatment at a higher level than partial, which is only 1 in the State and in Portland. We shouldn't have to fight for our rights for treatment, even if it means out of State, when the fact is; admitting you have a problem and having the ambition to WANT to recover should be enough!
We the undersigned request the following:
*That comprehensive eating disorders services be available throughout Maine, and accessible to clients in each of the Counties in Maine.
*That if a team of providers is recommending a higher level of care (that being Partial Hospitalization, Residential, or Inpatient), that is can be accessible to the client without the financial burden of insurance companies not covering it, even if it is out of the State of Maine.
* When 21st Century Cures Act passed; it was SUPPOSED to make it so insurance companies have less flexibility to deny coverage for eating disorders that they’re already supposed to be provided through the federal mental health parity law. It clarified the original intent that Residential treatment for eating disorders is supposed to be INCLUDING in the federal mental health parity act...and ultimately this should have allowed people suffering from eating disorders to have better access to treatment." Unfortunately this is not the case.
Let's make getting treatment in Maine (or Mainer's battling an eating disorder who need out of State treatment) easier!
Help us stop the fight's with insurance companies over coverage..when it is just as important for those who are suffering to get treatment, as it is a cancer patient to get chemotherapy!
Help make Maine great again!
If any of these statement's moved you, please consider signing this petition! We need all the signatures we can get! Our hopes is to get enough signatures to be able to go to the State House and make a difference!