Nevada's health status

Nevada was ranked this year as the 42nd state in America's Health Rankings by the United Health Foundation. With only 8 other states in worse shape than Nevada, it's a clear thing that there are several improvements and revisions to be made to Nevada's Health Care and Health plans. Nevada has been loosing rankings since 2003, when it peaked at 36, the highest ranking for this state in the past twenty years. Five years later, it finds itself six positions down, and things like the great increase in the percentage of children in poverty (up five percent in the past year), meaning that 14.1% of the population 18 and under in Nevada lives in poverty. The High School graduation rate has also lowered and it's now the lowest percentage in the nation, with only 55.8% of incoming 9th graders graduating in four years.

Other great challenges for the residents of Nevada when it comes to health are one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation, with 751 offenses per 100,000 population, the lowest immunization coverage percentage in the US, with only 66.7 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations, and an extremely high geographic disparity within the state (17.6%). It doesn't help to have the third lowest public health funding in the nation (only $36 per person) and a high percentage of residents lacking health insurance (18.4% of the residents in Nevada have no Health Insurance). The rate of ready primary care is also very low, with only 85.3 primary care physicians per 100,000 population.

Some good news for the population in Nevada include a low prevalence of obesity at 24.6 percent of the population, low levels of air pollution at 9.6 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter, a low rate of preventable hospitalizations with 65.3 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees and a low infant mortality rate at 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.

It's easy to see that there is still a lot of room for improvement in this state when it comes to health. Public funding needs to be increased, and the service needs to be improved in terms of accessibility, adequacy, and quality. As of right now, Nevada's Health Care System is overwhelmed. Changes need to be made so this state can improve in terms of health.

Nevada health insurance information

In Nevada, 81.6% of the citizens have Health Insurance. The extremely poor government funding makes this percentage low, as compared to the rest in the nation, which means that although Nevada has worked hard towards offering an accessible health plan to its citizens, they need to revise their plans and access, because with 18.4 % of the population in Nevada having no Health Insurance, a percentage that seems to be increasing, things are in need of improvement. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is okay, with 52.8% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, and this percentage has been going down as well since 2003. About 79.5% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers.

With the dire need for an increase in public health funding in Nevada, the state has now a very low rate of ready primary care physicians for the population, with only 85.3 physicians per 100,000 population. Nevada's health care system could be in a better position within the country if the accessibility problem that it seems to have can be eradicated, and the quality of the service improves. The percentage of the Nevada population that could get medical care when needed is 85.6%. The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 9.4%.

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

Best health plans in Nevada (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 Nevada 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 Nevada'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.