R.I. 14th best in America’s Health Rankings

RHODE ISLAND ranked 14th in the United Health Foundation’s annual America’s Health Rankings. Hawaii ranked first, followed by Massachusetts and Connecticut. / COURTESY AMERICA'S HEALTH RANKINGS
RHODE ISLAND ranked 14th in the United Health Foundation’s annual America’s Health Rankings. Hawaii ranked first, followed by Massachusetts and Connecticut. / COURTESY AMERICA'S HEALTH RANKINGS

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked 14th best in the United Health Foundation’s annual America’s Health Rankings due to its low percentage of children in poverty, high immunization coverage among adolescents and higher number of primary care physicians.
The report, the 27th annual, ranks each state across 34 measures, including behavior, community and environment, policy, clinical care and outcomes.
It said the state also ranks 11th for senior health and ninth for the health of women and children. It said the Ocean State was unchanged in its overall rank from 2015.
It said that in the past year, the percentage of the population without health insurance decreased 31 percent, to 6.6 percent from 9.5 percent. In the past year, infant mortality decreased 15 percent, to 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births from 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
But challenges for the state that were cited include a high rate of drug death – drug deaths rose 39 percent to 21.4 from 15.4 deaths per 100,000 populations over the past four years. It also said there is a large disparity in health status by educational attainment and high prevalence of frequent mental distress.

Hawaii ranks as the healthiest state for the fifth consecutive year. Massachusetts grabbed the second-place spot, followed by Connecticut, Minnesota and Vermont. Mississippi ranks as the state with the greatest opportunity for improvement, falling to 50th from 49th. Louisiana improved to 49th, while Arkansas (48th), Alabama (47th), and Oklahoma (46th) round out the bottom five states.

The report notes that the Unites States has made notable long-term improvements, such as preventable hospitalizations, a decrease in smoking and increase in health insurance coverage. The prevalence of smoking in the U.S. has decreased 17 percent over the past four years.
The rate of preventable hospitalizations among Medicare enrollees has declined 13 percent in the past year.
The percentage of the population that is uninsured declined 35 percent over the past five years and is now at the lowest point in the report’s history.
However, this year also marked the end of a 26-year decline in the rate of cardiovascular deaths. In the past year, the national cardiovascular death rate increased to 251.7 deaths per 100,000 from 250.8. Drug deaths also rose 4 percent in the past year. Premature death, the years of potential life lost before age 75, also increased for the second consecutive year. And since the start of America’s Health Rankings Annual Report in 1990, the prevalence of obesity among adults has increased 157 percent.

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