Back to Goal 3From Measures and Milestones 2002
p. 20-21, published 2002
Without due and appropriate attention to the health status of its citizens and the accessibility of health care, Kentucky’s progress will be undermined by direct and indirect costs, human and fiscal. On our most recent survey, citizens ranked this goal as the third most important to the future, and even though many of them believe we are losing ground, a majority no longer think so. However, by a wide margin, citizens still expressed the belief that we have lost the most ground on a goal they regard as vitally important.
Table 1: Where Citizens Think We Stand
Nationally, approximately 38.7 million citizens were without health insurance in 2000—down 0.6 million from the previous year. Behind this decrease in the insured population was a significant increase in those covered by employment-based health insurance, a measure of progress that was likely lost in the 2001-2002 recession. While 14.3 percent of the U.S. population was without health insurance, 29.5 percent of the poor (9.2 million people) had no health insurance in 2000. Historically, Kentucky’s proportion of the population without health insurance has fallen below national averages. Nevertheless, more than half a million Kentuckians had no health insurance in 2000. The changes in health insurance coverage from 1999 to 2000 were not statistically different for both Kentucky and the United States.
Figure 1: Population without Health Insurance, Kentucky and the U.S., 1999-2000
Early and comprehensive care leads to healthier pregnancies and healthier babies. First-trimester care is also a gateway to the health care system for economically disadvantaged women. Our state made considerable progress in the 1990s in providing pregnant women with adequate prenatal care through such measures as expanded Medicaid support. In addition, Kentucky has continually outpaced the nation in the proportion of pregnant women receiving first trimester care.
Figure 2: Percent Births with First-Trimester Care, Kentucky and the U.S., 1991-2000
As our population ages, heart disease, cancer, and stroke have become the leading causes of death here and nationally. In general, death rates in Kentucky do not compare favorably to national rates attributable to these causes. However, between 1990 and 1999 our state realized 10, 5, and 3 percent declines in its rates of deaths due to heart disease, cancer, and stroke, respectively.
Figure 3: Causes of Death, Kentucky and the U.S., 1999
Smoking, along with obesity, ranks at the top of the list of preventable causes of death in the United States. At a rate of 31 percent, Kentucky fell far short of its objective to reduce the adult smoking rate to 23 percent by the year 2000. Indeed, the gap between state and national smoking rates has widened in recent years. The slight rate drop in 1999 was short-lived, and the 30.5 percent of Kentuckians aged 18 and older who reported being smokers in 2000 is not far behind the 31.7 percent record high reported in 1996. Thus, smoking remains a significant health problem for the Commonwealth.
Figure 4: Percent of Adults Who Are Current Smokers, Kentucky and the U.S., 1990-2000
To view a list of all chapters in this book, click here. To read the chapters in sequential order, please follow the arrows below.
