Katie Jennings is a senior writer at Forbes covering healthcare, technology and AI and a co-author of the InnovationRX newsletter. She joined Forbes in 2020 and is based in Jersey City.
With San Diego-based Equip, Kristina Saffran has convinced health insurers from UnitedHealthcare to Aetna to pay for research-backed treatment for thousands of patients struggling with eating disorder s.was first diagnosed with anorexia at 10 years old. She cycled through different hospital programs only to return home and fall back into the same destructive behaviors. “I didn't know how to take care of myself, nor did my family,” Saffran told.
Anorexia is one of the deadliest mental health disorders, second only to opioid addiction. Before starting Equip, Saffran had attacked the problem from a different angle, cofounding an eating disorder nonprofit called Project HEAL, which landed her on thelist for her work helping more kids get access to treatment. But she soon realized that providing grants could only make a small dent when 28.
Insurers pay Equip monthly flat fees to manage each patient’s care, which means the San Diego-based startup can use the funds to offer services that go beyond traditional treatment codes, such as the peer and parent mentors. In 2024, revenue is estimated to double from $35 million last year. That growth helped Equip gain a spot on this year’sEquip is now trying to broaden access to people that don’t typically get treatment, including people over the age of 24 and low-income patients on Medicaid.
Family-based therapy is thought to be effective in around 30 to 50% of patients with anorexia and is recommended as long as the parents or guardians are willing to participate and there is no history of abuse in the family. But it’s not easy. The therapist walks the parents through what’s known as the refeeding process where the child, who is terrified to eat, has to eat six meals a day, said Chambers. She likened it to the kid having to “eat a plate of spiders and snakes.
Anorexia Therapy Optum ARFID Mental Health Family-Based Treatment Binge Eating
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