Mental Health Status and Access to Health Care Services for Adults in Maine

Access to health care services is critically important to individuals’ health and well-being, yet Maine residents’ ability to obtain needed health care or maintain an ongoing relationship with a personal doctor are not uniform across different population groups. In Maine, access to care may be affected by factors such as financial resources, education, age, race/ethnicity, and other characteristics. Individuals with mental health conditions or poorer mental health status may be at heightened risk of access barriers because of more limited financial resources or other challenges in obtaining needed services. Using the Maine Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the years 2012-2014, this brief examines disparities in access to health care services for Maine adults based on self-reported mental health status.