Less than twelve hours after I posted a blog about a family’s campaign to get their fifteen year-old daughter treatment for Anorexia Nervosa, Aetna Insurance announced it would permit “Jenny” to see doctors at a facility that was not “in network.”
Aetna had paid for Jenny to be hospitalized five times at “in network” treatment centers but her condition had not improved. Anorexia Nervosa, a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. When Aetna insisted that Jenny return to the same providers for a sixth time, her parents consulted outside experts who recommended Oliver Pyatt, a facility in South Miami that specializes in treating difficult anorexia nervosa cases. Unfortunately, it was not on Aetna’s approved list.