Kentucky's Health Ranks 32nd, Heading South

Congressional Quarterly today released a ranking of all the states in terms of their health care.




No surprise that Kentucky ranks below the middle, but unfortunately the data seem to be trending in the wrong direction.

The Healthiest State designation is awarded based on 21 factors chosen from the 2008 edition of Health Care State Rankings. These factors reflect access to health care providers, an emphasis on preventative care, affordability of health care, and a generally healthy population.

Negative Factors
1. Births of Low Birthweight as a Percent of All Births
2. Teenage Birth Rate
3. Percent of Mothers Receiving Late or No Prenatal Care
4. Age-Adjusted Death Rate
5. Infant Mortality Rate
6. Age-Adjusted Death Rate by Malignant Neoplasms
7. Age-Adjusted Death Rate by Suicide
8. Average Annual Family Coverage Health Insurance Premium
9. Percent of Population Not Covered by Health Insurance
10. Percent of Children Not Covered by Health Insurance
11. Estimated Rate of New Cancer Cases
12. AIDS Rate
13. Sexually Transmitted Disease Rate
14. Percent of Population Lacking Access to Primary Care
15. Percent of Adults Who Are Binge Drinkers
16. Percent of Adults Who Smoke
17. Percent of Adults Obese
18. Percent of Adults Who Do Not Exercise

Positive Factors
19. Beds in Community Hospitals per 100,000 Population
20. Percent of Children Aged 19-35 Months Immunized
21. Safety Belt Usage Rate

The 21 factors ...were divided into two groups: those that are “negative” for which a high ranking would be considered bad for a state, and those that are “positive” for which a high ranking would be considered good for a state. Rates for each of the 21 factors were processed through a formula that measures how a state compares to the national average for a given category.

The positive and negative nature of each factor was taken into account as part of the formula. Once these computations were made, the factors then were weighted equally. These weighted scores then were added together to get a state’s final score. This way, states are assessed based on how they stack up against the national average.

The end result is that the farther below the national average a state’s health ranking is, the lower (and less healthy) it ranks. The farther above the national average, the higher (and healthier) a state ranks.