Gov. Ted Strickland's changes to the state's mental health policies _ mandating pre-authorization for doctors who prescribe psychiatric drugs and delaying proposed changes in a program for autistic children _ have angered the families of those with mental illnesses and their advocates.

A story from the AP says, the revised drug policy requires general practitioners to be pre-authorized before they write prescriptions for psychiatric drugs covered by Medicaid. State officials estimate that general doctors write about 30 percent to 40 percent of those prescriptions.

Psychiatrists in community mental health centers will continue to be exempt from the requirement and patients who are considered clinically "stable" on a particular drug may continue to take it without pre-approval, said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The General Assembly included a provision in the state budget that would have prevented pre-authorization requirements but Strickland used his line-item veto to delete the language. Strickland argued that advance approval would save $20 million to $47 million annually.

The administration has also delayed a billing change that threatens to eliminate coverage of costly specialized treatment for autistic children under the state's Medicaid program. The state will continue to pay for those services until July 1.