WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 25, 2018) — The Eating Disorders Coalition (EDC) is dismayed by recent New York Times media reports of an attempt by the Administration to roll back civil rights. The Administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services, seeks to drop meaningful Title IX protections, thereby effectively endorsing sex discrimination in education programs receiving government financial assistance. With over 2 million individuals identifying as transgender or gender-diverse in our nation, such a change would be fundamentally detrimental to these persons, with a radically toxic effect upon their health and well-being. Worrisomely, the proposed action opens the door for the erasure of further protections of LBGT persons, particularly with respect to vital and affordable health and mental health care services.

Read the full statement here.

The Eating Disorders Coalition wants Americans to know where their Representatives and Senators stand in support of eating disorders policy priorities.

The EDC compiled a Congressional scorecard to inform Americans about Members of Congress' record of support for eating disorders policy. The following scorecard reflects how each Member of Congress has supported eating disorders policy during the 114^th and 115^th Congresses. Each Member is assigned a letter grade based on the number of policy items they have led or supported.

This scorecard is not an endorsement of any candidate by the Eating Disorders Coalition or its members.

View the Scorecard

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 28, 2018) — This Wednesday, Congress passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 6157) report for LHHS includes language to integrate the “Education and Training on Eating Disorders” for health care professionals authorized by the Anna Westin Act through 21st Century Cures (P.L. 114-255) into the U.S. Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Resource’s Primary Care Training & Enhancement Program. The President is expected to sign H.R. 6157 into law by this Sunday. This marks the second fiscal year in a row that Congress included the integration of eating disorders training within this funding.

Read the full report here.

On Sept. 26, 2018, the federal appropriations bill authorizing funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was passed by the House of Representatives and is on its way to the President’s desk for a signature this week. Accompanying the legislation is a Congressional conference report that includes a much needed recommendation for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assist states in collecting data about eating disorders in national health surveillance systems.

Read the full press release here.

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded the first grant for a new federal program that would provide $3.75M over five years for a Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders. SAMHSA awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as its Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, led by Dr. Christine M. Peat, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Instructor in the Department of Neurosurgery at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

Read more about it here.

Laura Donahue joined the EDC board in August 2018. Read more about our newest board member here.

Washington - Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act. The Senate unanimously passed the same bill in October 2017. Read the full statement: here.

The Eating Disorders Coalition compiled an infographic summary of the new Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders Grant Application, resulting from the work of the Anna Westin Act passage and eating disorder community’s advocacy.  View the Press Release here if you missed it yesterday

Recently a bipartisan group of fifty-one Senators and Members of Congress, led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN], Shelley Moore Capito [R-WV], Tammy Baldwin [D-WI] and Rep. Ted Deutch [D-FL] and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL], sent a House and Senate letter to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Azar, urging the full-scale implementation of Section 13006 “Education and Training on Eating Disorders” for health care professionals authorized by the Anna Westin Act through 21st Century Cures (P.L. 114-255).

This past Friday, the Eating Disorders Coalition submitted mental health parity
comments for an open comment period to the Department of Labor, Department of Health & Human Services, and Treasury (“The Departments”), urging strategic changes in mental health parity guidance to better assist those affected by eating disorders to receive treatment coverage. 

The Eating Disorders Coalition Applauds Congressmen Seth Moulton (D-MA) & Walter Jones (R-NC) for Leading a Bipartisan Letter to Investigate Eating Disorders Prevention and Treatment for Servicemembers and Their Families

Today, House of Representatives Armed Service Committee Members Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA-6) and Walter Jones (R-NC-3) sent a bipartisan letter with 30 other Members of Congress to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to request a comprehensive study of the state of prevention and treatment of eating disorders for military members and their families by December 14, 2018. 

CALLING ALL MILITARY MEMBERS & FAMILIES! In order to better understand access to care issues and develop a grassroots network of advocates across the U.S., the EDC & Residential Eating Disorders Consortium (REDC) have teamed up on a survey to collect information from military members and their families who are affected by eating disorders.  

Today, Congress passed the Fiscal Year (FY) Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (also known as the “Omnibus”) (Senate Amendment to H.R. 1625). The Explanatory Report Language includes language to integrate the “Education and Training on Eating Disorders” for health care professionals authorized by the Anna Westin Act through 21st Century Cures (P.L. 114-255) into the U.S. Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Resource’s Primary Care Training & Enhancement Program.