Senior Health State By State In The USA

Where are the healthiest and where are the sickest Americans aged 65 and over? Take out a map and follow the Mississippi River. The healthiest senior citizens in the USA live in Minnesota, and the sickest live in Mississippi. 

That is in the findings in the America's Health Rankings Senior Report released in May 2014 by the United Health Foundation. The rankings of the states are based on the services available to seniors in the communities in which they live, state and local policy, and clinical care.

Mississippi, which ranked dead last, also had the highest rates of poverty among the elderly, 13.5%.

How did your state rank overall in the study?

• The top 10 states for senior health included Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Delaware, and Wisconsin.
• The second 10 states for senior health included Washington, California, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, Maine, Connecticut, and Maryland.
• The middle tier of states for senior health included Arizona, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Florida, North Carolina, Virgina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
• The next to bottom tier of states for senior health included Alaska, Wyoming, New Mexico, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, and New York.
• And the bottom tier of states for senior health included Texas, Nevada, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.

See Also: Older People (And Maybe Younger People, Too) Don't See As Well At Home As At The Clinic

What makes a difference in health among the states?

• Physical activity. Surveys showed that senior citizens are unusually active in Minnesota, Utah, and Colorado, where health ratings are high. Surveys showed that senior citizes are unusually inactive in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and West Virginia, where health rating are low. Often physical activity is caused by falls, which can lead to premature death.
• Food insecurity. People who can't count on having groceries every day of the month, ironically, are more prone to obesity. The difference in whether senior citizens are food secure often is community involvement. Communities that make sure everyone has food have healthier seniors. Nearly 25% of adults over the age of 60 don't have food every day in Arkansas, a state that ranks low on senior health measures. Nearly as many seniors, up to 20%, lack secure sources of food in California, Texas, and all of the states of the South except Florida. In large parts of the northern United States, however, nearly everyone has enough food.
• Access to healthcare. Aging Americans need healthcare in a variety of forms. Some need diabetes care. Some have mobility issues, and can only remain active in their communities if they can find neighbors and friends who are willing to drive them places. Chronic drinking (more than 60 drinks a month for men, more than 30 drinks a month for women) influences health outcomes. And the ability to see a primary care physician, especially the ability to see a primary care physician who manages hospital care, is key to surviving common health conditions that affect the elderly.

Health Insurance And Senior Care

Especially important to the health of senior citizens between the ages of 59 and 65 is the availability of health insurance coverage. For Americans who can't afford their own health insurance (typically costing $1,000 per month or more at age 60), who aren't considered disabled by the Social Security Administration for at least two years (and 70% of applications for disability are rejected), or who don't have employer coverage, a doctor visit is something that has to be paid for out of pocket, as do prescriptions. And when an office call costs $300 to $500, cash in advance, and medications for cardiovascular disease and diabetes cost $500 to $1000 per month, each, many senior citizens simply give up medication and hope for the best.

Whatever is to be made of the politics of the Affordable Care Act, the new availability of health insurance to Americans not yet old enough for Medicare should make an enormous difference in the health of senior citizens. Some states in the lowest tier of health for seniors, such as Arkansas and Kentucky, nonetheless have approved Medicaid expansion, which allows people between the ages of 60 and 65 who make more than about $2,000 per year but less than about $30,000 per year (depending on whether or not they are married) to get health insurance coverage. 

And in the states that did not approve Medicaid expansion, most of them in the South where health statistics are unfavorable, they still don't. So what can a senior citizen who is not yet on Medicare and who earns too much for Medicaid do when health insurance is otherwise unavailable?

1. Try to earn a little more. If you just earn enough, you can get heavily subsidized, sometimes completely free health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. It's only the poor who aren't covered. Those barely in the middle class get tax credits paid directly to insurance companies that pay most or all of their premiums.
2. Move across a state line. If you live in Texarkana, Texas, or Cincinnati, Ohio, or Yuma, Arizona, moving a mile or two to a nearby state may be one way to get the health coverage you need.
3. Check out free and reduced-fee clinics. Most free clinics in the United States have a specific constituency, and clinics that offer services to children, teens, and pregnant women (and exclude older people) are far more common than clinics that serve all comers. Still, there may be care for all in your community.
4. Take advantage of prescription assistance programs. Drug companies are not required to make any products available for free, but many do. Typically, a specific medication may be available for free, or for a $20 to $50 charge, for individuals who make no more than $25,000 to $35,000 per year (each company sets its own limits) and to couples who earn no more than $50,000 to $70,000 per year. These programs can save seniors tens of thousands of dollars, or make treatment possible.

See Also: Elderly Who Exercise Regularly Have Better Heart than Healthy Young Sedentary People

It's not easy to stay healthy in some states of the United States. But there are people, organizations, and companies that care everywhere. It's just not always easy to find them.