Interesting Facts
- In 2009-2010 in the United States, only 55% of psychiatrists versus 89% of physicians accepted private non-capitated health insurance (Bishop et al., 2014). This percentage of psychiatrists was down 17% from 2005-2006. The percentage of psychiatrists who accepted Medicare in 2009-2010 was 55% versus 86% for other physicians, down 19.5% from 2005-2006. Medicaid? 43% versus 73%, but unchanged from 2005-2006. Only dermatologists had a lower rate of Medicaid acceptance than psychiatrists.
- More than one-half of individuals with a mental illness do not receive any mental health services (SAMSHA, 2012).
- Medicaid is the largest payer of mental health services in the United States.
- More than three-quarters of US counties have a severe shortage of psychiatrists (Thomas et al., 2009).
References
Bishop TF, Press MJ, Keyhani S, Pincus HA. Acceptance of insurance by psychiatrists and the implications for access to mental health care. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014 Feb;71(2):176-81. PubMed PMID: 24337499.
SAMHSA. Behavioral health, United States, 2012 [HHS publication (SMA) 13-4797]. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/2012-BHUS.pdf.
Thomas KC, Ellis AR, Konrad TR, Holzer CE, Morrissey JP. County-level estimates of mental health professional shortage in the United States. Psychiatr Serv. 2009 Oct;60(10):1323-8. PubMed PMID: 19797371.