North Carolina’s health status

For the fourth year in a row, North Carolina has been ranked as the 36th healthiest state in the US by the United Health Foundation. The state has maintained overall a balance in its healthiness for the past couple of years, and although there are still a few key issues to be improved, the state shows some promising stats, such as a low prevalence of binge drinking at 11.8 percent of the population and a low occupational fatalities rate at 5.2 deaths per 100,000 workers. Also, the public health funding has increased from last year’s, which is always a good thing.

To improve its health status, North Carolina also has some challenges to improve, including a high prevalence of smoking (with 22.9% of the population), a high prevalence of obesity at 28.7 percent of the population, a high infant mortality rate at 8.5 deaths per 1,000 live births and a high percentage of children in poverty at 21.0 percent of persons under age 18. Also, important key issues in the state is the increase of population lacking Health Insurance, up 0.6% in the past year and almost five percent in the past 15 years. The percentage of complete immunizations between infants 19-35 months has lowered 2.3%, and the percentage of children’s poverty has gone up 0.5% last year, meaning that 21% of the population 18 and under live in poverty in North Carolina.

Public health funding in North Carolina is below average, although improving slightly, and was in 2008 approximately $50 per person. Hopefully, the increment in public health funding can stop the negative tendencies of the percentage of the population lacking health insurance. With an average rate of primary care physicians and preventable hospitalization, the health system in North Carolina can be improved enormously, with a small push.

North Carolina health insurance information

In North Carolina, 82.8% of the citizens have Health Insurance. This is a low percentage of the population, caused by low government funding, and a somewhat high geographical disparity. This means that about 17.2% of the population in North Carolina has no Health Insurance, and the worrying fact is that this is a percentage that has been consistently increasing for the past 15 years. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is also somewhat low, with 56.7% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, a percentage that has been going down drastically since 2003. About 79.3% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers.

Despite the still somewhat low public health funding in North Carolina, the rate of primary care physicians for the population is average, with about 115 physicians per 100,000 population. North Carolina’s health care system needs to regain the accessibility it used to have. The percentage of the North Carolina population that could get medical care when needed is okay at 84%. The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 11.4%.

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

Best health plans in North Carolina (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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina’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: North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue 20301 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-0301 PHONE1-800-662-7952-NC only,(919)733-4240 or (919)733-5811. FAX: (919)715-3175 or (919)733-2120 Senator Richard Burr PHONE: 202-224-3154 (DC office) FAX: 202-228-2981 (DC office) Web Form: Contact Form Senator Kay Hagan PHONE: 202-224.6342 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-1100 (DC office) E-Mail: E-Mail Official North Carolina health insurance information North Carolina Medicaid Serves about 20 percent of the state’s population, whose low income prevents them from purchasing health insurance in the private market. North Carolina Health Choice (NCHC) for Children For families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford rising health insurance premiums so they are able to get free or reduced price comprehensive health care for their children.		Recent North Carolina health insurance news Health Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of North Carolina 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 North Carolina: