LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kantor & Kantor, LLP announced today that eating disorders educator and policymaker Kathleen MacDonald has joined the firm as an insurance advocate and member of the health team, working on appeals for eating disorder cases. MacDonald is a nationally recognized expert in the education and prevention of eating and body image issues, as well as policy relating to eating disorders and mental health parity. For more than half her life, MacDonald struggled with chronic dieting, anorexia, bulimia, exercise bulimia, disordered eating, and body image issues, conditions from which she has fully recovered.

"Kathleen's recovery and subsequent devotion to educating people about effective treatment and realistic body images has been an inspiration not only to me, but also to lawmakers, treatment providers, families and people seeking hope for a cure for their eating disorders," said Lisa Kantor, who founded Kantor & Kantor with her husband Glenn to fight for people with disabilities denied insurance benefits. "Her knowledge about this issue, her passion for mental health parity, and her sensitivity and compassion for people fighting for eating disorder treatment makes her a tremendous resource for our firm and our clients."

In 2004, MacDonald partnered with the Gail R. Schoenbach F.R.E.E.D. Foundation (For Recovery and Elimination of Eating Disorders) as Education and Prevention Coordinator and as Insurance and Patient Advocate. As a lead expert, she helped research and develop the Education and Prevention section of the FREED Act (Federal Response to Eliminating Eating Disorders), the first comprehensive federal bill to address eating disorders, and is responsible for the inclusion of the Patient Advocacy section. In 2008, MacDonald became Policy Assistant for the Eating Disorders Coalition.

MacDonald is a frequent speaker at national eating disorders conferences and on college campuses around the country. She has presented at a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill regarding the need for federal policy recognizing eating disorders as a public health crisis and at a number of national policy conferences. For her work, MacDonald received numerous accolades, including the Community Partner Award from Michigan's Community Mental Health Services and the Eating Disorders Coalition's Action Award. Her recovery story was featured in the documentary "Made Over in America."

"My struggle with eating disorders was prolonged because I did not have access to medically necessary treatment," said MacDonald. "Working with Kantor & Kantor means I can help ensure that others have full access to their insurance benefits to receive the treatment they need and deserve."

About Kantor & Kantor's Eating Disorders Practice

On August 4, 2012, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed Kantor & Kantor a victory for client Jeanene Harlick, ruling that under California's Mental Health Parity Statute California insurers must cover all medically necessary treatment for the nine mental health conditions the parity statute enumerates, including bulimia and anorexia. In the past decade, the firm has won a number of other notable appellate court decisions for people with eating disorders and other disabling physical and mental illnesses. For more information about legal assistance for eating disorders, follow this link: http://www.kantorlaw.net/Areas_of_Practice/Eating_Disorders.aspx.

About Kantor & Kantor, LLP

Kantor & Kantor is one of the largest law firms in the country exclusively representing plaintiffs who have been denied insurance benefits from life, health, disability and long-term care policies. The firm has extensive experience with the complex appeals process and federal court litigation of ERISA matters. For more information, log on to www.kantorlaw.net, call (800) 446-7529, or follow Kantor & Kantor at www.californiainsurancelawyerblog.com.

SOURCE Kantor & Kantor, LLP