A new analysis details the extent of rural mental-health care disparities. "Seventy-five percent of rural counties across the country have no mental-health providers, or fewer than 50 per 100,000 people," or one per 2,000, the recommended level, Kelly Livingston and Maggie Green of ABC News report on their analysis of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data. "A majority of counties with no or few providers per capita are located in the Midwest and Southeast." Mental-health care deserts are most common in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas; nearly half the counties in those states have no mental-health care providers at all.

Saul Levin, CEO and medical director for the American Psychiatric Association, told ABC that local mental-health services can forestall the need for more intensive treatment, which is often more expensive.

Read the full article about rural mental health care by Heather Chapman at The Rural Blog.