Mental Health Providers
Summary
Ratio of population to mental health providers. The 2024 Annual Data Release used data from 2023 for this measure.
Access to health care requires not only financial coverage, but also access to providers. More than 168 million people lived in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area as of December 2023. While the mental health parity aspects of the Affordable Care Act create increased coverage for mental health services, concerns such as difficulties in finding in-network providers and differences in the amount of cost-sharing between primary care and mental health care add to the issue of the mental health provider shortages, preventing many people from receiving care.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (2023). Mental health providers.