Life After Recovery

Act now for MentalHealth Parity!

Dear Friends,
Between my own (obsessive!) election fever and concern over the Wall Street crash this week, I've neglected another urgent piece of political business that directly impacts the lives of those struggling with eating disorders.  Mental Health Parity legislation will compel insurers to treat mental health and addiction problems as they do other health problems.  To get this legislation through Congress, we need to act immediately.
Here is the latest call to action from Kitty Westin and the Eating Disorders Coalition:

With Congress scheduled to adjourn this week, we need to urge them to bring parity across the finish line before they go home. We’ve are so close! Although the parity agreement passed both houses on Sept. 23, Senate and House leaders still need to agree on a final package.  As Congress considers other critical issues like the Wall Street financial crisis, we must ensure parity makes it to the President's desk for signature.

Senators and Representatives need to hear from you NOW to send mental health parity to the President's desk.

Action:  Call your U.S. Representative and Senators by using the toll-free Parity Hotline: 1-866-parity4 (1-866-727-4894).

(The Parity Hotline reaches the U.S. Capitol switchboard, which can connect callers to the offices of their members.)   

Message: "I'm calling to ask that the Senator/Representative urge the congressional leadership to pass mental health and addiction parity legislation before Congress adjourns."

Alternative Action: Email your Representative and Senators by personalizing the sample letter below.

Background: Despite the strong bipartisan support for parity and the victories Tuesday, there is a very real risk that procedural differences between the two chambers and their focus on other compelling issues could lead to a stalemate on parity. We've come too far to allow that.  The discussion in Congress at this stage is over larger issues about the extent to which other proposals where parity may be attached are paid for, to comply with the Budget Act's "pay-go" rules. 

 Sample Letter:

                       I am writing to urge you to ensure the Senate and House finally send the historic agreement on mental health parity to the President's desk before adjourning for the year.

                       On September 23, both chambers passed the parity agreement in separate legislative packages.  Now is the time for Congress to finally close the loopholes in the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which prohibited discriminatory annual and lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits.  The new legislation will extend parity protections for mental health and substance use disorder benefits to all aspects of plan coverage, including day/visit limits, dollar limits, coinsurance, copayments, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.  When enacted these protections will make a real difference for patients who can't afford to wait any longer.

                       Please urge Senate and House leaders to finish their work now on this critical health care legislation and send it to the President.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

Floor Votes:

The Senate vote of 93 to 2, on passage of the tax extender legislation that included parity, an Alternative Minimum Tax patch and disaster relief, is posted at:

<http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00205>

The House vote of 376 to 47 is posted at

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll625.xml

<http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll625.xml>

Resources: Fact sheets and past letters to Congress are posted at www.mhlg.org/page18.html <http://www.mhlg.org/page18.html>

 

THANK YOU!

I want to thank the dozens of you who added your stories to the hundreds that we are considering for a new book of letters about recovery.  Our editorial team at the Academy for Eating Disorders is reading through the letters now.  We'll be selecting those that give compelling snapshots of life at the different stages of recovery and offer advice and hope to others.  The resulting book will benefit the work of the AED in sponsoring more research, education, and prevention efforts.

As the project advances I'll keep you updated.  Right now, I just want to thank all of you who took the time to write your stories and contribute them to the cause.  If your letter is selected we'll be in touch over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I wish you well and encourage you to raise your voice often and proudly.
Express your power and nourish your self!

Aimee

Honor a life with a gift of food

I just received a wonderful idea from my friend Cathy Berger Kaye, who has dedicated her life to service in all its various forms.  This idea demonstrates just how vital and wonderfully symbolic the gift of food can be -- if we can stop abusing it long enough to appreciate its true value.  I think we can all gain something valuable by embracing her idea and accepting her challenge.  Cathy lives in Los Angeles, but every one of us has a food bank or shelter somewhere near us.  Find the one closest to you and remind yourself what food is really good for: life.

Here is Cathy's letter:

Today is my mother’s birthday, the first since she passed away last February, and I have had a
sensational day celebrating her. This experience led me to sit down and compose this invitation to
women who live in Los Angeles, who all share a passion for service. Please know like any invitation
you can respond yes or no ... simply an invitation.

For as many years as I can remember, my mother would call me on the afternoon of her birthday
and tell me this. “Cathy, I just went to Costco and I bought giant bags of salad, lasagnas, and two
sheet cakes and I just delivered them to the food shelter. And all the people came out and helped
carry the food in. Then when they saw the sheet cake their eyes lit up. They were so excited,
especially about the sheet cake.” And we would talk about the details of Costco and the south
Florida weather that made unloading the car easy or a challenge, and I relished this annual talk.
When my mother passed away there was a moment when I wondered what I would do without her
on her birthday. The answer came immediately. Go to Costco. My friend Flori Shutzer just started
working at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and I asked her what place on the westside would
welcome a donation. She responded St. Joseph’s in Venice and I said of course!

If you are not familiar with St. Joseph’s, all I can say is WOW. They have a new three-month young
facility. For families in need, they have child care programs with a bright cheerful room with three
healthy meals served daily, a food pantry, arts and education programs for youth of all ages, and a
culinary training program with a shiny state of the art kitchen where after a six week program they
have a 70% job placement rate. And Bread and Roses, their restaurant that serves meals with dignity,
where clients enter and are seated café style at a table with a server who brings a multi-course meal.
One seating on Monday, three seatings Tuesday through Friday. The last Friday of the month they
serve birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday to any person celebrating that month.

I had a great time at Costco today. I had stepped into the movie Enchanted – everything felt
heightened as I selected the items Tiana Rideout, the volunteer coordinator of St Joseph’s Center
had mentioned: diapers, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce in cans, small packs of raw carrots, a large pack of
art paper (for the children’s program). And then the piece de resistance. It just happens to be the
end of the month. They said I could bring a sheet cake. Standing in front of the selection I was so
appreciative of this opportunity. And which cake did I select? A large white cake with chocolate
mousse filling decorated with deep blue and purple flowers and words in script: Happy Birthday!
After all was unloaded from my car, Tiana gave me a tour of the facility and of Bread and Roses –
both places enriched by the countless volunteers who appear so glad to be where they were at that
moment, as was I. Now, granted, I would prefer we did not need agencies of this type, that we had
in fact achieved a much more civil and civilized society where each person has the necessities to care
for themselves and their family with dignity but we are far from that place both in Los Angeles and
pretty much everywhere else. Then I knew that this day was the launch of something – in honor of
our mothers.

So I am inviting you to consider joining me as a founding member of Our Mothers’ Birthday – an
opportunity to honor our mothers who nurtured us by nurturing others and allowing them to do the
same. If during the month of your mother’s birthday you take on bringing a donation to St. Joseph’s
or a place of your choosing the contribution matters in several ways. We fill their pantries a bit more
and this is definitely needed – allowing the mothers who receive the bags of food to provide for
their loved ones in hard times. If a birthday cake is part of the donation, each bite nurtures that part
of a person who may not have gotten a hug in a while, and as cliche as that may sound, I believe it’s
true.

My ambition? To fill Our Mothers’ Birthday Calendar with a commitment that is ongoing all year
with at least one monthly donation. And if you care to participate and can’t do the shopping, I bet
someone would welcome doing so on your and your mother’s behalf.

I must acknowledge that this idea of course stand on the shoulders of others. One of the recipients
of this email and her daughter used to make and deliver cupcakes every month for a westside
shelter’s birthday celebration; I was always so moved by that story. Perhaps you already have ways to
reach out to others that are enough for you – granted I know every person on this list is part of the
solution already. Still I ask.

If you say yes, let me know what month to place you on the Calendar and where you will donate.
And I will be creating some way to make this easy and easier as the process moves along. Tana
Rideout is a fabulous young woman and will help us as well if you choose to work with St. Joseph’s.
I will also be contacting Costco to see if they will partner with us in any way.

And after I move in our new home (which will be in the next few weeks) and settle in, I will invite
you to an Our Mothers’ Birthday party! What fun!

You know, my mother and I both wear the same size shoe ... I can wear them but I don’t believe I
can fill them. However doing this with her and with all our mothers seems to be an exact fit.
Love to you and Happy Birthday!
Cathy