Study ranks Texas as worst state for mental health for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, a study by Forbes Advisor has named Texas as the state with the worst mental health care.

For May, which happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month, the business site’s researchers analyzed which states have the best and worst mental health care based on factors including access to health insurance, affordability of care and number of mental health treatment centers.

Texas ranks poorly in all three of those areas. it has the second-highest percentage of adults with a mental illness who are uninsured, the third-highest cost for care in the nation and the third-fewest mental health treatment centers, according to Forbes.

Despite those shortcomings, Texas remains one of just 10 states that have refused to accept the Medicaid expansion, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without easier access to heath insurance. The result is that affordable mental health care is simply unavailable for many Lone Star State residents.

Indeed, 75% of Texas youth who struggle with depression don’t receive mental health services, in large part because it’s not affordable, Forbes Advisor found. What’s more, many of those young people who do have private insurance may not have plans that offers mental health coverage.

Across the country, one in five adults suffers a mental health condition every year, but more than half won’t receive any treatment, according to Forbes Advisor’s analysis. Of the top 10 worst states for mental health, six are in the South. Vermont ranks as the best state for mental health care, and is joined in the top 10 by five other states in the Northeast.

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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.