College season is beginning, and as students begin to prepare for the new semester, they rarely think about their health insurance. But in the extreme college environment where students are cramming for exams one night and attending alcohol-soaked parties the next, many students are in need of special health attention they cannot afford.

Fortunately there is Timothy’s Law. The boy after whom the law is named, Timothy O’Clair of Schenectady, N.Y., suffered from depression and was not able to receive mental health coverage to provide necessary treatment.

The 12-year-old eventually committed suicide. Passed in December 2006 by the New York State legislature and took effect on January 1 of this year, the new law covers not only junior high schoolers like Timothy but also high schoolers and college kids.

The bill prohibits insurance companies from limiting coverage for those with mental illnesses and/or substance-abuse disorders. It says that coverage and cost must be on par with all other health care services covered under their own policy.

It is on the college level that the bill will have its most important affect. Although many colleges do offer health insurance options for students, that choice often comes at an additional cost and not mandatory, allowing students to be covered by their parents’ or their own insurance plans.

As a college student, I can attest that symptoms of mental depression are ubiquitous across my campus, and colleges across the nation.

A 2007 University of Michigan study found nearly half of all college students reported feeling depressed at some point, to the degree that they were not able to function normally.

The head of new research on this topic at the University of Michigan, Dr. Joseph Himle, said in a CBS News report that “preliminary knowledge suggests that depression is quite prevalent on college campuses, maybe more prevalent than in the general population.” The Michigan study also found that more than 1,000 college students commit suicide each year.

Many college students also suffer from substance abuse disorders, and Timothy’s Law covers treatment for those disorders as well. Students may try to pass them off as merely partying and enjoying their liberation from home but alcoholism is widespread.

A 2002 Harvard study found that more than one in three college students can be diagnosed with alcohol disorders. The study found that 6% of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence — alcoholism — and 31% met the clinical criteria for alcohol abuse. Many are binge drinkers.

The principal investigator of the study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School, John Knight, said in a 2002 report that heavy drinking is usually only seen as a behavior problem.

“Our study indicates that many students who drink heavily are at high risk of true mental disorders — alcohol abuse and dependence,” Dr. Knight wrote. “Alcohol dependence especially may become a lifelong illness, and more should be done to recognize and help students at risk.”

What about New York? Every private insurance policy in New York limits the amount of inpatient and outpatient coverage provided for mental health and substance abuse service, or requires additional co-payments from those insured.

And many families cannot make the extra payments for supplementary insurance. So their children end up without help when the October blues hit.

It is important to remember that the money to equalize the coverage for this new insurance policy comes from somewhere

The director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, Michael Cannon, noted that the extra cost of this law will be born by insurance companies, and, eventually, other patients.

Insurers will raise prices, Mr. Cannon said, rendering the cost of insurance prohibitive to other customers — including, conceivably, those with mental health challenges.

“People that you knock out of insurance may be people you want to help,” he said.

Still, the case for Timothy’s Law begins to seem strong when the October blues hit the dorm. So before you — or your child — say his or her last goodbyes, keep in mind that these illnesses and disorders are not rare.

Regardless of the incremental costs for Timothy’s law — health insurance articles project less than 1% — college students will finally get access to treatment that they need.

Ms. Glazer, a sophomore in the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, was The New York Sun oped page intern this past summer. She can be reached at emilyglazer2007@u.northwestern.edu.