Arkansas Health Insurance
Arkansas’s health status
After reaching an all-time-low in 2007, when it was ranked 48 out of 50 by the United Health Foundation, Arkansas Health System has risen and it was ranked 43 this year, the state’s highest ranking since 1993. There have been significant positive changes that help the situation, like the significant drop of the percentage of Children in Poverty (at 26.6 in 2007, it was the second worst in the nation, but it lowered 5.5 percent to be 19.1 in 2008), which has been consistently decreasing in the past five years, dropping almost ten percent since 2003.
The percentage of citizens without Health Insurance has also reduced slightly, but some issues that might change the drop tendency might show up in upcoming years, with the amount of Public Health Funding dropping $10 dollars per person (it was $83/person in 2007, but it dropped to $73/person in 2008). Even with the drop though, Arkansas still has good public funding, being within the first 25 states in the nation.
Other aspects that need to be monitored is Obesity (Arkansas is in the top five states with the biggest percentage of Obesity this year, with 29.3 percent of its people being Obese), and Premature Death (though dropping slightly, it’s still one of the states with the worst rate of Premature Deaths in the country, 9,694 years per 100,000 population). Arkansas ranks higher for health outcomes than for health determinants, indicating that overall healthiness may decrease over time.
Overall, Arkansas’s Health System is slowly improving, and with strong public funding and high rate of citizens insured, the outlook for this state can improve if the issues concerning them get a better prevention treatment and the immunization coverage for citizens gets raised.
Arkansas health insurance information
About 83.5% of the citizens in Arkansas have Health Insurance, with 17.5 of the population lacking it, a percentage that seems to be dropping with new policies and Health Care Plans. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is 40.8% and the bad news is that it has been decreasing over the past few years (it was 42.2% five years ago).
Nevertheless, the percentage of population that could get medical care when needed is still high at 83% and the patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 11.3%, a very low number.
If coverage has been denied for you, there are still some options you can check:
Best health plans in Arkansas (according to US News)
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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas’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.
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| Contact the White House PHONE: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line) State officials:
Official Arkansas health insurance informationArkansas Insurance Department Life and Health Division: Regulates life and health insurance in Arkansas. Arkansas Insurance Department Consumer Services Division: Regulates life and health insurance in Arkansas. Arkansas Senior Health Insurance Information Program: Regulates life and health insurance in Arkansas. ARKIDS 1ST — provides two coverage options for more than 70,000 Arkansas children: ARKids A offers low-income families a comprehensive package of benefits; ARKids B provides coverage for families with higher incomes. | Recent Arkansas health insurance newsHealth Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Arkansas 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 Arkansas: |
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