Current West Virginia insurance issues as of February 2010West Virginia insurance affordability and availability issues have, save for one notable exception, been inadequately addressed, much like other issues in this state that are key to quality of life.
West Virginia is one of those states that gets made fun of for being backwards, uneducated, poor and with some of the lowest quality of living in the country. It's difficult to expect a good health care situation here. By its health care statistics, it would seem to prove those stereotypes. It's ranked as the 42nd healthiest state in the country. It's at the absolute bottom in prevalence of smoking. It's 48th in prevalence of obesity. Those two rankings would make sense of it also being 48th in cancer deaths. It's also worst in the country in preventable hospitalizations. I imagine it's coal mining industry contributes to it being 46th in the country in occupational fatalities. Surprising, it's ranked in the mid-thirties in percentage of insured ahead of seemingly more progressive states like Oregon and Colorado. There's no surprises in the fact that health insurance premiums here have risen 74.9 percent from 2000 to 2007 versus an 18.7 percent rise in median earnings in the same time period. This state was not a big supporter of Obama adminstration but you have to wonder what their long-term strategy for maintaing health coverage will be given the lifestyle.
Do you have a different opinion of health coverage in this state?Health coverage policies and laws obviously can change. If your experience with getting health coverage is different than what is written above, or if you just want to share your experiences with health coverage, please feel free. |