Missouri’s health status

Missouri was rated this year the 38th healthiest state in America’s Health Rankings, a ranking put together by the United Health Foundation. Missouri has lost three spots as compared to last year’s rankings and this position is the worst position Missouri has had in the past twenty years when it comes to health. Key issues that need to be worked are the state’s high prevalence of smoking (24.5% of the population), the worst rankings in the country when it comes to the high percentage of children in poverty at 22.1 percent of persons under age 18, and the lowest public health funding in the nation at merely $42 per person.

The state’s extremely poor health funding, the high percentage of geographical disparity, and the low rate of primary care physicians are factors that help the state’s percentage of people that lack Health Insurance, which has been consistently going up for the past twenty years and is now at an all-time high of 12.9% of the state’s population. Two issues that still need to worked but that show slight improvement are the infant mortality rate and the cardiovascular-related deaths. Nevertheless, the premature death rate is up again this year, after dropping slightly in 2007. Health Care and Health Insurance are relatively accessible, but need to be more efficient.

There are some things that are being done the right way in Missouri as well. Some of the state’s strengths include a high rate of high school graduation with 80.6 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years, a low incidence of infectious disease at 11.0 cases per 100,000 population. The state’s ranking of prevalence of obesity in the population has also lowered significantly in the past year, which means that although the percentage went up 1%, it still grew lesser than other states did, which was in the end beneficial for the state.

Missouri needs to do a lot of progress when it comes to health, the health care system and the overall healthiness of the state has been decreasing in recent times. Not everything is lost, though. By taking into consideration and consistently working onto bettering the key issues of the state, the situation could improve greatly.

Missouri health insurance information

In Missouri, 87.1% of the citizens have Health Insurance. Despite the extremely poor government funding, this percentage is acceptable, which means Missouri has worked hard towards offering an accessible health plan to its citizens, as only about 12.9% of the population in Missouri has no Health Insurance. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is low, with 50.6% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, though this percentage has been going down since 2003. About 83% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers.

Despite the low public health funding in Missouri, the state has an average rate of primary care physicians for the population, with 106.2 physicians per 100,000 population. Missouri’s health care system, although trying hard to remain accessible to its citizens, has issues to work for, such as better quality and efficiency. The percentage of the Missouri population that could get medical care when needed is 86.8%. The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 17.9%.

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

Best health plans in Missouri (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 Missouri 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 Missouri’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: Missouri Governor Jay Nixon Room 216, State Capitol Building Jefferson City MO 65101 PHONE: (573) 751-3222 Senator Christopher Bond PHONE: 202-224-5721 (DC office) FAX: not available (DC office) Web Form: Contact Form Senator Claire McCaskill PHONE: 202-224-6154 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-228-6326 (DC office) Web Form: Contact Form Official Missouri health insurance information Missouri Department of Insurance Health Insurance page, with links to publications provided by the State of Missouri. MO HealthNet Division (Medicaid) The purpose of the MO HealthNet Division is to purchase and monitor health care services for low income and vulnerable citizens of the State of Missouri. MO HealthNet for Kids Part of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), it is a health insurance program for children of low-income families.		Recent Missouri health insurance news Health Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Missouri 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 Missouri: