Delaware’s health status

After peaking in America’s Health Rankings at the 30th position in 2006 (the highest since it was ranked at number 29 in 1993), Delaware has slowly fallen, four spots in 2007 and one in 2008, to rank currently in the 35th position of the healthiest states in America. There are several key factors causing Delaware to fall: a very high Violent Crime Rate (the fifth most violent state in the country), a very high percentage of prevalence of binge drinking (4th in the nation with 18.8 percent), and very high rates of infant mortality (nine deaths for every 1,000 births), infectious disease (5th in the country), and cancer-related deaths.

Delaware has in fact a strong public health funding, with $89 per person, a very high accessibility (sharing the least geographical disparity percentage in the nation with Connecticut, and with an average number of primary case physicians available) and a relatively low percentage of lack of Health Insurance, but despite these factors, the high rate of violent crimes, drinking, obesity, and pollution lead to a high rate of premature deaths (34th in the country, with 7886 years lost per 100,000 people). This means that despite being accessible, the Health Care System is not always effective, because there are many factors against the overall well-being of the Delaware citizens.

Some of the state’s best features when it comes to Healthiness are the effectiveness of the system for the little ones: the high rate of immunization coverage for children 19-35 months and a low percentage of poverty among children. Also, the percentage of smoking prevalence has been decreasing steadily over the past five years, from 24.7% in 2003 to a record-low of 18.9% in 2008. It helps a lot that the state has the lowest percentage of Geographic Disparity (sharing the top spot in the nation with Connecticut), but the overall lifestyle needs to be improved so the Health system can work at its best.

Delaware has many issues that need to be worked upon to make their Health system better, and to provide better Health Insurance for everyone. The health determinants and outcomes are balanced, and with a small push in working towards decreasing the key issues holding back the effectiveness of the Health system, the State’s ranking could improve greatly. Obtaining Health Insurance is not really the difficulty, or even having good health care for that matter, it’s reducing the risks and situations where the Health System can become ineffective.

Delaware health insurance information

Despite being lower than previous years, about 87.3% of the citizens in Delaware have Health Insurance, with only about 11.7% of the population lacking it, a great percentage that shows the great accessibility of Health Care Plans on the state. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is high, at 57.6%, and also dropping a bit from previous years. Nevertheless, about 82 percent of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers.

The access to primary health care is average, and this combined with the lowest geographical disparity, Health Care is extremely accessible, with the percentage of population that could get medical care when needed at 92%. Despite the great accessibility, the patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 12.9%, a low number.

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

Best health plans in Delaware

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 Delaware 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 Delaware’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: Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner William Penn Street, 2nd Fl. Dover, DE 19901 PHONE: (302) 744-4101 FAX: (302) 739-2775 Senator Joe Biden PHONE: 202-224-5042 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-0139 (DC office) Web Form: http://biden.senate.gov/services/contact/ Senator Tom Carper PHONE: 202-224-2441 (DC office) FAX: 202-228-2190 (DC office) Web Form: http://carper.senate.gov/contact/ Official Delaware health insurance information State of Delaware Department of Insurance Delaware Healthy Children Program Help for families meeting certain income guidelines get health insurance for their children age 18 and under. State of Delaware Medicaid Information Medicaid furnishes medical assistance to low-income families and the elderly, blind and disabled people without enough income to pay for medical services.		Recent Delaware health insurance news Health Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Delaware 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 Delaware: