Check this out! Same health benefits for mental illness as for other illnesses. I'm not sure why it was tacked onto the finance industry bailout but this could really help some of us out!

Here is the link to the article:
[URL=http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4928...alBrandChannel=10341]US Congress passes mental health coverage boost[/URL]

Wow! Thanks for the news article River. That would be wonderful, but I already see a loop hole that could be frightening:

To quote an excerpt from the article: "The bill will not force health plan providers to give mental health coverage but will make those that offer benefits for mental illness and substance addiction treatment to do so on the same terms as medical and surgical care."

The answer to that for many insurance companies will be to drop the level of coverage for other illnesses. Maybe, I dunno. I hope that will not be the case.

Yes it is likely that insurance companies will raise rates, raise deductibles, co-pays, etc. across the board. (They up the fees and lower the coverage every year now as it is.)

I think worse would be that they will completely do away with mental health coverage altogether. I don't know if they can take away existing coverage but they certainly don't have to offer it in any new policies. I really don't like my insurance being tied to my job. With all the layoffs I am more worried about losing the insurance sometimes than the income.