Washington Health Insurance
Washington’s health status
For the past couple of years, Washington has been doing great when it comes to health. In 2008, Washington was ranked as 10th in the country, health-wise, by the United Health Foundation’s America Health Rankings. Washington, which was ranked 12th in 2007, has definitely improved its already extremely good health system and overall health within the state, and is now one of the best within the US. Some of the positive changes that helped the state become healthier were the reduction in air pollution, which is now 10.4 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter, the prevalence of smoking within the state (which, although up in the ranks, lowered 0.3% in the past year) and has now the lowest infant mortality rate in the country, with only 4.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. Last year the state ranked seventh.
The state has also one of the country’s lowest percentages of poverty among children (11.6%, the fifth lowest percentage in the nation), and the fifth lowest rate of occupational fatalities in the country, with only 3.7 deaths per 100,000 workers. The percentage of the population in the state that lacks Health Insurance was also reduced this past year, with only about 11.6% of residents with no Health Insurance Coverage. Quality of life has improved within the state in the past year, with decreases in the rates of cancer and cardiovascular-related deaths, as well as the premature death rate (one of the lowest in the country). People in Washington not only live well and healthy, but also seem to live longer.
There are a couple of key issues that need to be looked at, to ensure that health remains in the state. Although public health funding decreased slightly as compared to last year, it’s still way above the national average. Some of the state’s biggest challenges include the third lowest immunization coverage in the US, with only 73.9% of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations, a low high school graduation rate with 75.0 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years, many poor physical health days per month at 3.6 days in the previous 30 days and high geographic disparity within the state at 12.3 percent.
The health status overall in Washington is very good, and primary health care, and Health Insurance coverage is highly accessible, which is why Washington is in the top ten states in the nation, health-wise.
Washington health insurance information
Washington has good public health funding, which helps to make the percentage of residents with Health Insurance coverage high, with 88.4% of the Washington residents having Health Insurance, and only 11.6% of residents lacking it. Public Health funding and primary health care are used as they should, which is shown by the good adequacy and efficiency, and accessibility. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is good, with 53.8% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, but his percentage has been lowering since 2003. About 86.6% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers, the highest percentage in the nation.
Washington is in pretty good shape when it comes to health, in part thanks to the good public health funding per capita and the high rate of primary care physicians for the population, with over 124 physicians per 100,000 population. The extremely low number of preventable hospitalizations show the high efficiency of the system as well. The percentage of the Washington population that could get medical care when needed is good, at 89.3%. The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 35%.
If coverage has been denied for you, there are still some options you can check:
Best health plans in Washington
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 Washington 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 Washington’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 Washington health insurance information
| Recent Washington health insurance newsHealth Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Washington 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 Washington: |
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