Apparently, reports of the death of the "public option" in current health care legislation were premature. The House of Representatives passed a health are reform bill that includes a health insurance plan offered by the federal government.

The new bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R.3962), replaces the previous bill (H.R.3200) originated in the House. H.R.3962 passed by the slimmest of margins, but passed nonetheless.

What would this bill mean for you if the Senate passes similar legislation and it becomes law? If you don't have insurance coverage now, you probably will. If you're a low-income American, you may qualify for a subsidy to help you buy health insurance. More employers will be providing coverage for their employees.

Perhaps more importantly, the bill prohibits your health insurer from refusing coverage (or charging different rates) based on your medical history. This could have an impact on those with eating disorders, since medical problems are common.

I haven't seen anything about whether you should expect to see your insurance rates rise under these conditions. Insurance companies charge high-risk customers more and low-risk customers less. If these charges have to be the same across all customers, you may see the rates on your current policy rise (or fall, if you're a high-risk person). Unless, of course, you end up with the public option.

• Health risks associated with eating disorders
• How connected are body mass index and health?
• Troubling dance between eating disorders and diabetes

When nutrition suffers, your hair can suffer, too. A college junior posted in the forum about her hair loss and received some surprisingly practical responses from other readers. Maybe you have experience with losing hair from an eating disorder, or regaining it as your health improved. Join the discussion!

• Eating disorders' effect on pregnancy
• Osteoporosis can creep up slowly
• Bulimia flogs your teeth!

We often hear about how a family may have impacted a person with an eating disorder (though I'll note that some dispute that the family has much to do with it). And we hear about how a person with an eating disorder impacts her family.

What about when the person with the disorder is the mother in the family? Some people develop eating disorders in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. They may have spouses, kids...with responsibilities that adolescents simply don't yet have.

• Eating disorders in older women
• How adolescents with EDs impact their families
• New research on family dynamics with eating disorders

It can be intimidating to face the adjustment to college. The studying intensifies, of course, but there's also a new burden - freedom. When you're on your own, you have more choices, which can be fun, but also many more stressors. Eating disorders tend to "simplify" a stressful life by making all other problems seem insignificant by comparison.

• What parents can do when a teen heads to college
• Challenges for female athletes
• College environment can make drunkorexia seem more attractive