Eating Disorders Coalition: Tracking Congress

Congressional Scorecard: This scorecard reflects how members of the 117th Congress’ House of Representatives and Senate supported eating disorders initiatives over the last two years

View the chart on a separate page.

Key:

✓ = Denotates Support of that Item.
* = Bill or Item Lead.
+ = Original Co-Sponsor (for legislation only).
N/A = Party leaders and relevant Committee leadership are unable to co-sponsor or support items due to their position.

Anna Westin Legacy Act (S.3686)

The Anna Westin Legacy Act will authorize the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders to continue training health care professionals to screen, briefly intervene, and refer individuals to treatment for eating disorders. This will build on the success of the Center, which has already trained over 7,000 primary care providers since 2019.

Kids Online Safety Act (S.3663)

The Kids Online Safety Act will protect minors on social media from algorithmic harms, empower parents, and hold platforms accountable for their promotion of eating disorders and other mental and physical harms. It will help set necessary safety guiderails for online platforms to follow that will require transparency and give parents more peace of mind

Improving Mental Health and Wellness in Schools Act (H.R. 5526/S. 2930)

The Improving Mental Health and Wellness in Schools Act would integrate mental health promotion and education requirements to existing guidelines in the Local School Wellness Policies for grades K-12.

FY23 LHHS Appropriations

Primary Care Training and Enhancement of Eating Disorders: Seeks to provide $1 million in coordination with the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders to provide trainings for primary care health professionals to screen, briefly intervene, and refer patients to treatment for eating disorders.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Seeks to direct the CDC to assist states in collecting data regarding unhealthy weight control practices through the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and seeks to provide the CDC with $3 million for public awareness campaigns for eating disorders including implementation on proper prevention strategies.

National Institutes of Health: Seeks to direct the Director of the NIH, in collaboration with National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse to provide Congress with a report on research and resources needed to address gaps in genetics, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of eating disorders.

FY23 PRMRP (Senate Only): Seeks to provide $5 million to train military direct care providers on eating disorders screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment to support Department of Defense implementation of the SERVE Act.

Nutrition CARE Act (H.R. 1551/S. 584): The bipartisan Nutrition Counseling Aiding Recovery for Eating Disorders (CARE) Act permits the 3% of seniors and 4.5% of persons with disabilities affected by an eating disorder to receive outpatient Medical Nutrition Therapy (dietitian services) under Medicare Part B, at the same level as other conditions such as diabetes.

Supporting Eating Disorders Recovery Through Vital Expansion Act (SERVE Act) (H.R. 1309/S.194): Will extend the age limit for military family members to access residential eating disorders care from 20 years old up to the Medicare-eligibility age of 65. Additionally it will require the Secretary of Defense create regulations and plans to identify, treat, and rehabilitate servicemembers affected by eating disorders, as was done for substance use disorder amd require the DoD and VA to establish clinical practice guidelines for eating disorders treatment, which have been created for numerous other medical and mental health conditions.

FY22 LHHS Letter: This letter requested up to $1,000,000 to provide trainings for primary care health professionals to screen, intervene, and refer patients to treatment for eating disorders through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), increased National Institues of Health (NIH) support for eating disorders research and the establishment of a task force of eating disorders researchers, advocates, and Institutes and Centers, including NIMH, NIDDK, NIMHD, NICHD, and NIDA, to create a Strategic Plan to address research gaps in genetics, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of eating disorders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to include questions on unhealthy weight control practices for eating disorders, including binge eating, through the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.