"If you have a job, and insurance that includes mental health benefits, you can find affordable care — but you need to shop wisely. You also need to be aware that your benefits might be changing in the coming year. Because of a new federal law that takes effect for most insurance plans on Jan. 1, the Mental Health Parity Act, there is a very good chance that your mental health coverage has indeed changed — possibly for the better. In this column I will explore how to make the most of your mental health benefits. In a future column, I’ll discuss how to find free or low-cost mental health care if you don’t have insurance." - edythe from Bookmarklet

"THE CHANGES You might have noticed in the materials your employer handed out recently during open enrollment that your mental health benefits would look different in 2010. For instance, rather than being given a set number of visits, you may have unlimited visits now, but possibly with additional administrative hurdles before you can have access to the care. That’s because of that Mental Health Parity Act, which Congress passed last year. As of Jan. 1, the law requires that group plans covering more than 50 people provide the same level of care for mental health and substance abuse problems as for medical ones. Right now, most employer plans provide less coverage for mental health — say, by limiting the amount of visits you can make to a provider or setting higher annual deductibles than for medical care." - edythe