{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T20:05:15Z","timestamp":1792785915278,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788480000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":3,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture","award":["2023-69006-40299"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023-69006-40299"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05qx3fv49","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n Compared to metropolitan residents, rural residents face disparities in access to local mental health providers that are even larger than for other health care services. Telehealth appears to be a solution: patients should be able to more easily access providers from metro areas, reducing disparities in access. We consider how provider composition in telehealth or changes in provider behavior enabled by telehealth are associated with access to telehealth.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n We present descriptive evidence from multivariate regressions using National Health Interview Survey and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n In recent years, rural and publicly insured patients have become relatively less likely to see a mental health provider. Simultaneously, access to any telehealth services is 8-9 percentage points lower for non-metro residents, even after accounting for potential differences in mental health care utilization and internet access. We also show that self-payment is associated with telehealth utilization.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n We caution that telehealth in mental health may disproportionately benefit patients with higher insurance reimbursement or higher probability of self-pay and thus not reduce the mental health access gap for rural patients. Expansions in telehealth need to be combined with policies to promote equitable reimbursement and reduce barriers for providers to bill insurance.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/haschl\/qxag241","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T10:24:15Z","timestamp":1788517455000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Mental health care access in rural communities amid the expansion of telehealth"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3869-4330","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anja","family":"Gruber","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Wyoming Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, , Laramie, WY 82071 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anders","family":"Van Sandt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado State University Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, , Fort Collins, CO 80521 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8067-4819","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Scott","family":"Loveridge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Michigan State University Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, , East Lansing, MI 48824 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7511-1168","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Craig","family":"Carpenter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Michigan State University Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, , East Lansing, MI 48824 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6328-4272","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cris","family":"Meier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Utah State University Department of Social Work, , Logan, UT 84322 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026100701013681800_qxag241-B1","author":"Turrini"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100701013681800_qxag241-B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.52965\/001c.37445","article-title":"Telehealth in response to the rural health disparity","volume":"10","author":"Kolluri","year":"2022","journal-title":"Health Psychol Res."},{"issue":"6","key":"2026100701013681800_qxag241-B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/26242","article-title":"Neighborhood broadband and use of telehealth among older adults: cross-sectional study of national survey data linked with census data","volume":"23","author":"Okoye","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Med Internet 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