"And speaking of the economy... one of the things that got tucked into the bank bailout bill was some kind of health insurance parity. It only applies to health insurance obtained through large employers, and I haven't looked up the details of what exactly is specified and when it goes into effect, but there are probably some people looking at this thread who will be able to afford therapy now, who couldn't before."

I saw this in the Wall Street Journal a couple days ago. Apparently, it doesn't go into effect until January 2009. Basically, what it does is force insurance companies (not all insurance companies though -- and I didn't look at it closely enough to make the distinction) to treat mental health equal to medical health. So my understanding is this (correct me if I'm wrong): Say your insurance company says you get a limit of 20 covered visits per year for mental health . . . well, under the new law they will have to give you the same amount of covered visits you are allowed with your medical doctor. Also, say they only cover 50% of the cost of each of your mental health visits even though they cover much more for your medical visits! When the new law goes into effect they will have to cover the 90% or 70% or do a co-pay thing equal to what you pay your medical doctor. Applies to inpatient treatment as well (I think most coverages limit the number of days allowed as well as how much of the fee is covered, well under what is allowed for medical inpatient treatment).

CA already has something like this, but for those with out-of-state health insurance (because their companys' HQs are located in other states), they're SOL right now. This new law will apply nationwide.