Ohio Children Unable to Access Mental Healthcare Because of Insurance, Costs, and Lack of Providers

Costs, provider availability, and health insurance limitations were the top reasons Ohio children were not able to access mental healthcare, according to a recent study from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.

Nearly half said unaccepted health insurance was the reason their child did not receive mental healthcare treatment while 40% said provider availability and 29% said cost (people surveyed could select more than one barrier).

Just under half of Ohio children were on Medicaid and 46% had commercial insurance in 2023. Health Policy Institute of Ohio found commercial plans rarely cover therapeutic behavioral health support, case management, intensive home-based treatment, behavioral health nursing, crisis services/mobile response, and peer recovery services. “One of the most important takeaways from this brief is unlike traditional physical health care, it tends to be that insurance problems are more substantial for kids who are on commercial insurance compared to a program like Medicaid,” said Health Policy Institute of Ohio Analyst Brian O’Rourke. The state has a lack of mental health providers and 75 Ohio counties are mental health shortage areas, according to a study last year from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.

Ohio behavioral health clinicians are reimbursed an average of 18% less than medical or surgical clinicians, which can “lead some providers to not accept insurance and instead require patients to self-pay, which is out of reach for many families,” according to the study.

Sometimes having a health insurance plan is not always enough.