Earlier this summer, on July 27, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Kelly Ayotte, Shelley Moore Capito and Tammy Baldwin introduced the Anna Westin Act to bring more awareness to eating disorders in the medical community. This is the first eating disorder legislation proposed by bipartisan sponsorship to be introduced in over a decade.
According to a news release from Klobuchar's official website, the bill will use existing funds to create grant programs to train school personnel, physicians and mental health and public health professionals on how to identify early signs of eating disorders and how to properly care for their victims. The bill also requires that health insurance companies cover residential treatment for eating disorders.
Anna Westin, of Chaska, MN, was diagnosed with anorexia when she was 16-years-old. As Westin's disease progressed, she faced liver malfunction along with dangerously low body temperatures and blood pressure in college. Even though Westin's health was deteriorating quickly, she was refused proper treatment after her family was told that they had to wait for their insurance company to certify Westin's treatment. After fighting the disease for five years, Westin took her own life at 21-years-old – the bill is named in her honor.
Klobuchar and other senators are working together to limit the amount of lives taken by eating disorders, like Westin's.
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