U.S. improves on several fronts, but is getting more obese
Getty ImagesLOS ANGELES —Good health comes at a price and nowhere is that more evident than in a report published Wednesday that says Hawaii--the most expensive state in the union by several measures--is also the healthiest.
Conversely, the report from the United Health Foundation, says that the cheapest state, Mississippi, is also the least healthy.
The foundation, affiliated with insurance giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, -1.76% also says in its 25th annual rankings that there have been a number of encouraging signs on the health-care front, as well as discouraging ones.
For one, fewer Americans are smoking, more have immunization coverage and infant mortality is down from a year ago. Further, cardiovascular and cancer deaths are down and life expectancy is now 78.8 years on average, its highest ever, says Dr. Reed Tuckson, former medical affairs chief at UnitedHealth and one of the authors of the study.
“We are excited by really dramatic decreases in certain death statistics,” he said. “Unfortunately, simultaneously with that, we are seeing a significant increase in preventable chronic illness.”
Physical inactivity is growing more prevalent, drug deaths are up and more Americans are considered obese, or weigh 30 pounds more than their prescribed weight. Tuckson said obesity is up 153% from when the first United Health Foundation study was done in 1990.
“Americans are delivering much more illness into our medical-care system,” Tuckson said. “We are producing too many people who are unnecessarily sick.”
The 150-page report says the top five states for health are, in order, Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Utah. The bottom five, starting with the worst, are Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma.
Criteria for the state rankings includes prevalence of smoking and obesity, the percentage of children in poverty, disparities in health status by education level, low rates of preventable hospitalizations, cancer deaths and cardiovascular deaths. It also examines physical activity, prevalence of diabetes, birth weight of infants, availability of doctors and dentists and prevalence of infectious disease.
The states making the biggest improvement in the rankings are Maryland, which gained eight spots to 16th; Virginia and Texas, which each moved up five spots to 21st and 31st, respectively; and Rhode Island, California, South Dakota and Alabama, all of which moved up four spots to 15th, 17th, 18th and 43rd, respectively.
Falling the farthest was Wyoming, dropping eight spots to 25th. Idaho and Iowa slipped six places to 18th and 24th, respectively. Maine and Delaware dropped four spots each to 20th and 35th, respectively.
What may be most disturbing is that while the U.S. spends nearly 18% of its money on health care—nearly $3 trillion a year, by far the most of any nation--it is tied for 42nd among all countries in infant mortality with six deaths for every 1,000 live births. It’s tied for 34th in life expectancy.
http://cdnfiles.americashealthrankings.org/SiteFiles/Reports/Americas%20Health%20Rankings%202014%20Edition.pdf
