Ensuring mental illness and substance use disorders are
treated like any other health condition.
Mental and physical wellbeing are equally essential dimensions of health, and health care policy must fully address both.
Healthy Minds is Oklahoma’s leading voice for aligning issues related to mental illness and substance use with health care, and for deploying public health solutions to overcome Oklahoma’s pervasive mental health challenges.
Oklahomans must go out-of-network 55% more often for behavioral health office visits, compared to similar physical health visits.
Source: RTI International report, 2024
of people who died by suicide had contact with a primary care provider in the last month of their lives.
Source: Ahmedani et. al.
Oklahoma behavioral health providers are reimbursed 22% less for office visits than for similar physical health visits.
Source: RTI International report, 2024
Essential research
Oklahomans’ access to behavioral health care through private insurance
Oklahoma is facing a time of unprecedented mental health need, and most Oklahomans rely on commercial insurance to access care. Healthy Minds studied Oklahoma’s largest commercial insurance networks, and we found shortcomings that can mean long waits and more expensive care. In our comprehensive analysis, we explore what policymakers, insurers and providers can do to increase access to mental health services through commercial insurance.
Read MoreThe history and implications of mental health parity
Without parity, too many Oklahomans are left behind. Despite years of attempts to ensure mental health parity in insurance coverage, Oklahomans still struggle to access substance abuse and mental health treatment. Read our overview of how parity laws came to be and the struggle to enforce them.
Read MoreThe need for integrated care in Oklahoma
Integrating behavioral health care into primary care is a promising opportunity to expand the behavioral health workforce to include primary care providers, of which we have a higher-than-average number in Oklahoma.
Improving the ability to detect and treat mental health conditions in primary care settings ensures more individuals get the help they need when they need it, preventing future mental health crises that cost Oklahomans’ lives and livelihoods.
