Here's another interseting bit of pork from the bail-out.

Bailout legislation boosts Texans' mental health coverage
By TODD ACKERMAN
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 4, 2008, 10:48PM

Texans with mental health conditions will get insurance coverage in parity with people with other health conditions, thanks to a provision in the $700 billion financial bailout legislation passed and signed into law on Friday.

The federal provision, years in the making, will prohibit insurers from charging higher co-pays or deductibles for mental health treatments or limiting patient visits to mental health practitioners any more than their caps on other conditions.

"What this means for Texans is that those too-long denied appropriate mental health treatment because of discriminatory practices will now have greater access," said Lynn Lasky Clark, president of Mental Health America of Texas.

The law only applies to plans enrolling more than 50 employees and doesn't force insurers to provide specific mental health coverage.

Currently, that is rarely the case. A 1999 U.S. surgeon general report found that fewer than half of Americans struggling with mental illness seek treatment. Cited as a key reason was the fact that many insurance plans have higher co-pays for mental health treatment and set stricter limits on appointments and in-patient stays.

The provision's architects said it will boost access for 113 million Americans, including 82 million people covered by self-insured plans and not assisted by state parity laws.

Texas is one of 38 states with such a mental health parity law. The 1997 law, which affects about 20 percent of working Texans, requires coverage of autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, childhood depression and paranoia and psychosis.

This is good news really for some of our Texan posters!

Grats Texas...the money couldn't be better spent!

The health of the community is very important after all.