9 Million Gaining Upgraded Benefit for Mental Care. In a significant victory for mental health advocates, President Clinton acted by executive order to give federal employees improved mental health benefits in parity with those for physical ills. Both Bush and Gore endorsed the concept of parity, currently enacted in the laws of 32 of the 50 states. But the laws include so many restrictions and loopholes that equal coverage is illusory. A thorough, long analysis of the issues. New York Times