Alabama’s Health Status

Alabama’s Health Care system has been improving over the past few years. It still needs to be worked upon it, but there have been several breakthroughs that have been beneficial for the people of Alabama. According to America’s Health Rankings in 2008, Alabama has improved its ranking, and is now number 40 out of 50 in the Healthiest States List. It was number 45 in 2007 and 2006.

Some of the most important things that helped to improve Alabama’s Health Care status is the decrease in percentage of uninsured citizens (the rate of uninsured population declined from 16.9 percent to 13.6 percent in the past 15 years, and it declined 1.3 percent in 2007 alone). Also, with strong funding ($94 per person), Alabama ranks higher for health determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness may improve over time.

Other significant strengths to mention are the low geographical disparity (the lowest in the nation), which makes access to Health Care easier, and a very high rate of immunization coverage with 81.6 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations, despite of the high percentage of children in poverty under the age of 18 (22.5 percent).

One of the key points Alabama needs to work on strongly, is death prevention. Alabama has one of the highest rates of premature deaths in the Country (10,261 years lost for every 100,000 population), which is caused by several factors, like their very high obesity rate (which keeps coming up and is now the second most obese state in the United States, with 30.9% of their citizens obese). Also, the high levels of air pollution at 15.4 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter, and a high percentage of children in poverty at 22.5 percent of persons under age 18 are a key to the high rate of premature deaths. Cardiovascular and cancer-related deaths are also some of the highest in the nation.

Overall, Alabama’s Health System is slowly improving, and with strong public funding and high rate of citizens insured, the outlook for this state seems to be good for the upcoming years. After being in the same position for the past years, it’s starting to make improvements, and things are looking good.

Alabama Health Insurance information

About 86.5% of the citizens in Alabama have Health Insurance, one of the highest percentages in the nation. It also helps that the percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is 59.8% and it seems to be going up. With strong public funding, these are good news for Alabamians.

The percentage of population that could get medical care when needed is 83% and the patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 17.4%, a very low number.

If coverage has been denied for you, there are still some options you can check:

Best health plans in Alabama

The prestigious US News ranks yearly the best Health Plans in the country, polling and evaluating consumer assessment, prevention, and treatment offered by all plans. They gather information and rank the results, nation-wide and state-wide, showing on their results the best plans available for Alabama as well. The Rankings reflect results of consumer surveys and success in preventing and treating illness compared with average health plan.

Not only they rank Commercial Plans, they also rank Medicare or Medicaid plans, covering and evaluating as many plans as possible. If you want to browse their list of best-of, please go to the US News Health Plans Search site.

Get involved

If you are concerned about Alabama’s health care issues and want to speak out, your safest bet is to contact your federal official, either via phone or fax. Postal Mail is not recommended, since it takes too long, and e-mail might not be seen. Also, make sure you communicate with the right Member of the Senate and/or Congress.

If you want more guidance and tips on how to contact and communicate with your representatives, there are various sites on the internet that can help on how to contact your elected officials.

Contact the White House PHONE: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line) FAX: 1 202-456-2461 E-MAIL:comments@whitehouse.gov State officials: Alabama Governor Bob Riley 600 Dexter AvenueMontgomery, Alabama 36130 PHONE: 334-242-7100 FAX: 334-353-0004 Senator Jeff Sessions PHONE: 202-224-4124 (DC office) FAX: not available (DC office) Senator Richard Shelby PHONE: 202-224-5744 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-3416 (DC office) Official Alabama health insurance information Alabama Department of Insurance, consumer page - regulates the insurance industry to protect the customer. All Kids — low-cost, comprehensive health insurance for children 18 years and younger. Alabama Department of Senior Services - Medicare resources and more for Alabama’s older population. Alabama Medicaid Agency - The state/federal program that pays for medical and long-term care services for low-income pregnant women, children, certain people on Medicare, disabled individuals and nursing home residents — has income and other requirements.		Recent Alabama Health Insurance news Health Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Alabama and their welfare. Here are some of the latest news and updates on the current issues and news related to Health and Health Insurance for Alabama: