"HEALTHY" STATES -- GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT

The report below claims that various "blue" States are much healthier than "Red" (GOP-voting) States. You see why when you read what counts as an index of "health": "The report is based on factors such as personal behaviors, the environment people live and work in, decisions by public and elected officials, and the quality of medical care delivered by health professionals". Note that quality of medical care is only one inclusion. The other criteria are non-health criteria and appear to reflect the degree to which the States are Leftist in their practices. The report is in other words a quite childish attempt to "load the dice" and present "blue" States in a better light

An annual report released Tuesday put Minnesota at the top of its health rankings for the fourth straight year, while concluding that the nation’s health improved slightly. The report by United Health Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit foundation funded by the health care company UnitedHealth Group, said Americans are 0.3 percent healthier than they were a year ago.

The report is based on factors such as personal behaviors, the environment people live and work in, decisions by public and elected officials, and the quality of medical care delivered by health professionals. Examples include smoking, motor vehicle deaths, high school graduation rates, children in poverty, access to care and incidence of preventable disease.

Dr. Reed Tuckson, senior vice president of the United Health Foundation, called the report a “call to action for all of us” to make the nation healthier. “We can do better and our children deserve better,” he said. Minnesota, which has held the top spot in 11 of the 17 years of the survey, was cited for, among other things, its low rate of uninsured (8.4 percent), low percentage of children in poverty (10 percent), and low infant mortality rate (5.1 deaths per 1,000 live births).

Vermont was second on the list, followed by New Hampshire, Hawaii and Connecticut. At the other end, the report listed Louisiana as the least-healthy state, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.

The report also points out states that have made the most progress in overall health since last year, as well as those that have regressed the most. Illinois saw the biggest gain in the past year, jumping three to a ranking of 25. The report credited the state for decreasing child poverty by 13 percent and the prevalence of smoking by 10 percent. Other states saw health gains. Ohio was cited for cutting smoking statewide by 14 percent and increasing immunization coverage by six percent. Wisconsin rose three places to a ranking of 10, largely due to lowering the number of children in poverty by 24 percent, its high rate of high school graduation and low violent crime rate. Kansas was also noteworthy for a low rate of uninsured, smoking and incidence of infectious disease, the report said.

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THE TANGO: THE LATEST NHS PRESCRIPTION

It's a prescription that has the charm of not costing the NHS anything

The unfit, overweight and elderly will be told this week to take up the tango in the interests of their health. Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister, is expected to publish a new report showing that prescribing exercise is a cost-effective way of improving health. She will recommend that street dancing, tango classes and trampolining should be encouraged. "Anything you enjoy that makes you more active is good thing," a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said yesterday. "People love dancing." But the actual cost of a visit to the local disco or th, dansant would not be paid by the NHS, she said. It would be more a case of GPs making clear to their patients that all forms of exercise, not just working out in a gym, have their value.

The report to be published this week is the final evaluation of pilot programmes backed by the department, Sport England and the Countryside Agency to try to encourage people with a sedentary lifestyle to take more exercise. For at least a decade the department has been promoting "exercise on prescription" in local areas and as pilot programmes. But funding has been sporadic and enthusiasm from GPs not always wholehearted. And there is little evidence that the programmes are cost-effective. The 2.5 million pound local exercise action pilots began in 2004 and have been evaluated by Leeds Metropolitan University. Its report is expected to say that GP referrals to exercise and walking classes have worked for the older adults, while swimming works better for younger people. "Different categories of intervention engage users with different demographic profiles and baseline levels of physical activity," it found.

The evidence suggests that this kind of intervention can reduce the number of inactive people by about a third. The data also indicate that all those involved increased their activity levels to some degree. Sedentary people exercised about an hour-and-a-half more each week.

Ms Flint will emphasise that activity can take many different forms. One primary care trust sent teachers into schools to encourage girls between 10 and 16 to spend time dancing. While Ms Flint will not suggest that dancing classes are the solution to Britain's obesity epidemic, they have a role.

In another programme, over-50s were encouraged to box, skip and take part in a "tango warm-down". Yet others were taken for walks in the woods where they built shelters out of sticks.

Twenty or 30 years ago, higher levels of activity would have been considered part of a normal life, but Britain has become increasingly sofa-bound. A plethora of small initiatives, such as the promise of "personal trainers" paid for by NHS, has given the impression of government activity, but the rise in obesity has not been halted. The report is expected to make a series of recommendations about how physical activity interventions should be planned and organised in future. It says that such schemes require a broad mix of skills not easily found, and that consultation with the target groups and with community groups is needed to ensure that people participate. Participants also need to know that the schemes will not last for ever, but are simply designed to give them a short-term boost. They will need then to continue without support. The report is expected to conclude that more investment would be justified, as persuading people to be more active saves money in the long run. Ms Flint will announce that GPs will be asked to discuss physical activity with their patients, and complete questionaires recording how active they are.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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