South Dakota Health Insurance
South Dakota’s health status
South Dakota is a good healthy state according to the United Health Foundation. The state was ranked as the 21st healthiest state in the country in this year’s America Health Rankings, and although lowering slightly from its ranking position of last year (in 2007, South Dakota was the 16th healthiest state in the Country) it still above average, as compared to all states in the country. Key factors that helped South Dakota remain healthy in the past year were the state’s low violent crime rate (at only 169 offenses per 100,000 residents, it’s the fifth lowest in the country) and the excellent percentage of children 19-35 months receiving complete immunizations (also the fifth in the nation, with more than 87% of the children 19-35 months in South Dakota receiving complete immunizations).
South Dakota has also been doing things right when it comes to the incidence of infectious disease (although increasing slightly in the past year, at 5.6 cases per 100,000 population the state has one of the lowest incidences in the nation), a high rate of high school graduation (82.3% of incoming ninth graders graduate within four years) and few poor mental and physical health days per month at 2.4 days and 2.8 days, respectively, in the previous 30 days. The prevalence of smokers and drinkers within the state has lowered a bit this year as well, and although the percentages are still either average or above average as compared to the rest of the nation, progress is visible.
South Dakota still needs to work out a few health-related issues to be a healthier state. One of the things that do not help the state, it’s having the highest percentage of geographic disparity within the state (26.5%), and a limited access to primary care with 107.2 primary care physicians per 100,000 population. Although lowering in the past year, South Dakota still has one of the highest occupational fatalities rate at 7.9 deaths per 100,000 workers. In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 13.4 percent to 14.5 percent of persons under age 18, which is an alarming fact.
South Dakota has good public health funding per capita ($75 per person), and despite the extremely high geographic disparity, the accessibility to health care seems to be good, with average percentages of ready primary care access. Good news for this state: only about 11% of the residents in South Dakota lack Health Insurance, which is a very good thing. If the state can continue to work on its issues and make progress, they can improve its health. But so far, South Dakota is a good, healthy place to live.
South Dakota health insurance information
In South Dakota, 89% of the citizens in South Dakota have Health Insurance, a strong percentage that shows that the public health funding has been used appropriately within the state. Although South Dakota still has things to work on, the progress that it’s being made is good, with only 11% of the population in South Dakota having no Health Insurance. Nonetheless, The percentage of employers offering Health Insurance to employees is low, with 48.1% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, although this percentage has been steadily increasing as well since 2003. About 77.1% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers.
Despite the good public health funding in South Dakota, the state has a slightly below average rate of primary care physicians for the population, with 107.2 physicians per 100,000 population. South Dakota’s health care system position within the country is in doing okay, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be improved either, beacause it clearly can be. The percentage of the South Dakota population that could get medical care when needed is 92.1%. The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 22.2%.
If coverage has been denied for you, there are still some options you can check:
Best health plans in South Dakota (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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota’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.
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| Contact the White House PHONE: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line) State officials:
Official South Dakota health insurance information
| Recent South Dakota health insurance newsHealth Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of South Dakota 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 South Dakota: |
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