Nebraska’s health status

Nebraska is the 13th healthiest state to live in the US, according by America’s Health Ranking, a list compiled by the United Health Foundation. The state, which was 10th last year, has the highest rate in the country of High School Graduations, with 87.8% of incoming 9th graders graduating from high school. Other strenghts include a high immunization coverage (with 85.2% of children ages 19 - 35 mos. receiving complete immunizations) and few poor mental and physical health days per month at 2.5 days and 2.8 days in the previous 30 days, respectively. The state also has very low levels of air pollution (9.5 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter this year). Also, in the past year, the infant mortality rate declined from 6.5 to 5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Some of the things the state needs to work on include a high prevalence of binge drinking at 18.0 percent of the population (the only thing on which Nebraska ranks in the bottom ten) and high geographic disparity within the state at 13.6 percent, that although it lowered from last year, it’s still very high. The rate of occupational fatalities has risen as compared to last year’s, and is now up to 6.3 deaths per 100,000 workers. The percentage of smokers within the state also rose slightly, and now1 in 5 residents of Nebraska are smokers.

Despite lowering from last year’s amount, Nebraska has a somewhat low but still average public health funding, which has caused a small increase in the percentage of people lacking Health Insurance (it went up 1.4% and is now 12.8% of the Nebraska residents). Nonetheless, the rates of primary care physicians and preventable hospitalizations have not changed considerable due to the decrease in funding (in fact, the rate of primary care physicans has increased, and the preventable hospitalizations rate has remained the same). The immunization coverage percentage has increased significantly in the past year, and is now in the top 10 in the country, with more than 85% of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations. Overall, basic health care is accessible, with only 11% of the population lacking Health Insurance. Despite its slight fall in 2008, Nebraska has great health, and it’s a very good place to live, when it comes to health.

Nebraska health insurance information

In Nebraska, about 87.2% of the citizens have Health Insurance, which is a good coverage percentage, despite the relatively low government funding, and a somewhat high geographical disparity. This means that about 12.8% of the population in Nebraska has no Health Insurance, and the not-so-good news is that this percentage has gone up in the past 5 years. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is also somewhat low, with only 45.2% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, a percentage that has been improving drastically since 2003. 79.3% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers.

Despite the still somewhat low public health funding in Nebraska, the rate of primary care physicians for the population is good, with 115.4 physicians per 100,000 population. Nebraska’s health care system, despite needing a bit more funding, is adequate, accessible, and efficient, which is shown by percentage of the Nebraska population that could get medical care when needed (91.3%). The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 8.2%.

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

Best health plans in Nebraska (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 Nebraska 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 Nebraska’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: Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman P.O. Box 94848 Lincoln, NE 68509-4848 PHONE: 402-471-2244 FAX: 402-471-6031 Senator Mike Johanns PHONE: 202-224-4224 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-5213 (DC office) Senator Ben Nelson PHONE: 202-224-6551 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-224-0012 (DC office) Web Form: Contact Form Official Nebraska health insurance information Nebraska Medicaid Providing health care services to eligible elderly and disabled individuals and eligible low-income pregnant women, children and parents. Nebraska Kids Connection Health care coverage for qualified children developed by the State of Nebraska. It includes both the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Nebraska Medical Assistance Program (also known as Medicaid)		Recent Nebraska health insurance news Health Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Nebraska 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 Nebraska: