CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia has gotten failing grades for behavioral health care from advocates for people with mental illness, but the people who provide that care disagree over whether an upcoming legislative proposal will make that situation better or worse.

West Virginia is the only state that licenses people with master's degrees as psychologists. A measure slated for the 60-day regular session that begins Wednesday would require a more advanced graduate degree, a doctorate, as a minimum standard for future licenses.

Just more than half of the 448 licensed psychologists practicing in West Virginia are master's-level, according to the state board that oversees this profession. A Sunday legislative public hearing drew speakers who differed over whether the proposal would increase the number of providers or the quality of care.

Around 15 of West Virginia's 55 counties have only master's-level psychologists, according to state board figures, including Fayette, Hancock, Logan and Mineral. Another 11 counties have no licensed psychologists, including Jackson, Marshall, McDowell and Morgan. Proposal supporters said it would not affect currently licensed master's-level psychologists.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness gave West Virginia an "F" in its most recent grading of states, in 2009. The advocacy group cited such factors as scarce or non-existent acute and long-term care, overcrowded state-run hospitals and waiting lists for services.

"An already inadequate system is deteriorating," NAMI said in its report, adding that "The state is weak in many areas."

NAMI was particularly critical of efforts by state officials to redesign its Medicaid program, which mostly covers children in low-income families and the disabled. Federal rules have since sidelined that effort. The report did not specifically address licensing standards.

The licensing proposal's supporters include the American Psychological Association and its West Virginia affiliate. Speakers from those groups said Sunday that it would bring West Virginia in line with the rest of the states as well as with standards set by most hospitals and by such federal programs as Medicare and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.

Daniel J. Abrahamson, a doctoral-level psychologist and APA official, was among several speakers who said that the licensing of master's-level psychologists is deterring those with more advanced degrees from practicing in the state.

"West Virginia is left out of so many programs and so much funding because there are so few doctoral psychologists," Abrahamson told the joint interim Committee on Government Organization, which hosted the hearing. "We hear all the time, folks won't come to West Virginia to set up practice because they're afraid of the implications."

This situation will only worsen as more programs emerge from Washington, D.C., such as from the federal health care legislation, said Tom Stein, a longtime doctoral-level psychologist in Grant and Hardy counties. Stein said that these envision physician-led teams providing care, and so doctorate would be essential for psychologists.

But Joe Panepinto, another veteran doctoral-level psychologist, questioned whether tightening the standard would bring more behavioral health care to rural West Virginia. He said around two-thirds of the doctoral-level psychologists are now concentrated in the state's more urban areas, with nearly half around Charleston, while more than a fourth are teaching.

"This distribution means that the provider of psychological services to your constituents in West Virginia is the master's-level psychologist," Panepinto said. "There's no reason to believe that if and when this changes, that there is going to an influx of doctoral-level psychologists" in rural counties.

The West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists oversees licensing, and supports the current standard. Besides requiring degrees from accredited schools and at least 80 percent of the coursework from on-campus classes, the board also has master's-level providers practice for five years under supervision.

Board Secretary Terry Laurita Sigley said a national shortage of providers has federal officials studying whether to allow master's-level psychologists to treat veterans. She also said 14 states are allowing master's-degree holders to provide some behavioral services.

"This is a crisis in our entire country," Sigler said. She added, "There is a lot of political stuff going on here.... There is an agenda here, very clearly, to change this licensure law no matter what the cost."

Online:

Web site for proposal supporters: http://wvpsychfacts.com/

West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists: http://www.wvpsychbd.org

NAMI's 2009 report card for West Virginia: http://tinyurl.com/6twvrbs