The best, worst states for access to mental healthcare

Vermont is the best state for accessibility of mental health in the U.S., according to Mental Health America's annual "State of Mental Health in America" report. 

The mental health advocacy group published its annual ranking of states on July 29. It scored states based on eight accessibility measures, including the number of adults with mental illness who are uninsured, the number of adults with private insurance that does not cover mental or emotional problems and the number of youth reporting major depressive episodes that did not receive treatment. 

States ranked 1-13 had higher than average access to care, according to Mental Health America. States ranked 39-51 had lower than average access to mental healthcare. 

The report uses data from 2022. The rankings from one year are not comparable to previous years, as the methodology has been updated from the previous year, Mental Health America said. 

Here are the best and worst states for access to mental healthcare: 

Best states: 

  1. Vermont
  2. Maine
  3. Massachusetts 
  4. District of Columbia
  5. Rhode Island
  6. Oregon
  7. New York 
  8. New Hampshire
  9. Connecticut
  10. Pennsylvania
  11. Wisconsin
  12. Ohio
  13. Iowa 

Worst states: 

  1. Oklahoma
  2.  Florida 
  3. Arkansas 
  4. West Virginia 
  5. Tennessee 
  6. North Carolina 
  7. Nevada 
  8. Alabama 
  9. Georgia 
  10. Arizona 
  11. South Carolina 
  12. Mississippi 
  13. Texas 

See the full report here. 

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