Yesterday, a House committee advanced legislation that would require employers to provide the same insurance coverage for mental health disorders as they do for medical services. According to WashingtonTimes.com, the bill passed 32 to 13, sending it to the floor. Though President Bush hasn't pledged to sign the legislation, he has indicated interest in creating equal treatment for mental health care and medical coverage. A competing bill was approved by the Senate last month, which the Bush administration strongly supports. "We are concerned the House bill could have a negative effect on the accessibility and affordability of employer-provided health benefits," said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao along with Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt in a letter to senators.

According to Congressional Budget Office estimates, both versions of the bill would mean slightly higher premiums for employer-sponsored health care. Employers and insurers have already spoken out against cost concerns in the House bill. For more detailed information, check out the rest of this article.

"Where do you want to go for lunch?" "I don't know, where do you want to go?" How often have you heard these words around your office during lunch hour? And how often has half of lunchtime been spent debating where to go? A new website mentioned in the Springwise Newsletter called CrazyMenu is setting out to simplify the lunch hour. The site can be used to perform a simple search for restaurants in the area, or to browse menus, snag coupons or read reviews. But here's the fun part: Using the "Pick-A-Place" feature, a member can send friends or colleagues restaurant ideas, which are then voted on by the recipients. And for the office interns tired of taking orders from 20 people, CrazyMenu also has a group order function that allows everyone to enter their order, which will then be compiled into an easy-to-use list that can be faxed, e-mailed or phoned in to the restaurant.

So far, the service is available in more than a dozen U.S. cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Houston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit and Phoenix, in addition to Toronto, London and Paris. Registration is free.

Just blob it! That's the idea behind the beta version of a new website called IdeaBlob.com. The site is calling all entrepreneurs and small-biz owners to brainstorm their best business ideas and submit them online. Then, entrepreneurs can watch how well their idea is received as people vote for their top picks. Each month, the idea with the most votes wins $10,000. In addition, aspiring small-business owners can get valuable feedback from their idea submissions, much like they would if they actually formed a research group. "[IdeaBlob] also gives potential business owners a chance to 'try out' new ideas among other entrepreneurial types in a supportive and encouraging environment," said Ami Kassar, chief innovation officer of Advanta, the company that announced the launch. The contest ends on March 31, so get blobbing!