Among US women there is more binge drinking, fewer PAP tests, higher blood pressure, more diabetes, and more Chlamydia than a few years ago. Of 26 health indicators, the USA received a Satisfactory grade in only 3, according to a new report issued by Oregon Health & Science University and the National Women’s Law Center. On the positive side, American women are smoking less, more of them are undergoing colorectal cancer screening, and there is a lower rate of heart disease and cancer deaths.

The “Healthy People” goals are nowhere near being met, the authors of the 2010 edition of Making the Grade on Women’s Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card have written. This is the fifth report since the beginning of the decade. Of the 26 health grades, the country failed in half of them.

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) say the report was developed as a resource for health experts, advocates and policymakers to assess women’s health at state and national levels.

Over the last ten years, the most evident declines in female health have been in rates of Chlamydia, binge drinking and diabetes. In this report, binge drinking refers to a drinking session which includes consuming at least consecutive five alcoholic drinks. Pap test rates have dropped from “Unsatisfactory” in 2007 to “F” (fail) today. The Pap test (smear) is the primary test to detect cancer of the cervix.

Judy Waxman, NWLC Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights, said:

    “The good news is that when the nation rallies around a health problem with federal and state policies and programs as well as public attention, we can achieve real progress. Unfortunately, we have much more work to do in many areas of women’s health.”

Cholesterol screening improved from “Unsatisfactory” to “Satisfactory minus” from 2007 to 2010.

Female death rates in the following conditions/diseases have dropped:

However, none of the above-mentioned gains reached national goals and were not enough to merit improved grades on the 2010 report.

Vermont and Massachusetts attained the highest overall grades in 2010, a mere “Satisfactory Minus”. In 2007, 3 states achieved this grade.

37 states achieved an overall “Unsatisfactory” grade, while 12 got an “F” (fail). Of the 10 states that had the worst overall grades in 2000, nine are still at the bottom. The worst-ranking states are Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Alabama. Texas is not longer in the bottom ten, as was the case in 2000, but it still only achieved an “F” grade.

Michelle Berlin, M.D., M.P.H., Vice Chair and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, OHSU School of Medicine; and Associate Director, OHSU Center for Women’s Health, a National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, said:

    “It is shocking that there is not a single state in this country where women enjoy overall satisfactory health status.”

The report also assessed 68 health and health-related policies of each state. Only 2 out of the 68 policy goals were met by all states – participation in the Food Stamp Nutrition and Education Program, and Medicaid cover for breast and cervical cancer treatment. California topped the league with 44 of the 68 policy goals met, followed by New Jersey with 43, Massachusetts with 40, and New York with 39. No more than 9 states met at least 35 policy goals. At the bottom were Mississippi with 10, South Dakota scoring 11, and Alabama with 12.

Judy Waxman said:

    “The Affordable Care Act emphasizes access to health care, including the critical preventive services that women need to stay healthy. There is no doubt that it will make an enormous difference in addressing the problems identified in the 2010 Report Card.”

Below are some highlighted data from the report:

  • Approximately 20% of females aged 18 to 64 have no health insurance. This is a significant increase compared to 2007. In fact, the female uninsured rate has never been higher (since Census Bureau records began)
  • The Healthy People 2010 goal of having every women insured for healthcare has not been met by any state. Massachusetts is the highest, with 95% insured.
  • The following percentages of women do not have health insurance according to ethnic group: Caucasian 13.9%, African-American 23.4%, American Indian/Alaska Native 32%, and Hispanic 37.6%.
  • The target of bringing down the percentage of unintended pregnancies to 30% is missed by a considerable margin. In 2010 almost half of all pregnancies were unintentional.
  • Comprehensive maternity care is only required in individual and group health plans in 7 states. Private insurers have to cover contraceptives as they do other prescription drugs in just 8 states. The goal was for every state to have achieved this.
  • A private insurer’s ability to cover abortion services is restricted in 19 states. The report adds that “and 26 states diminish women’s access to abortion care by requiring that they receive biased counseling and endure a mandatory delay before receiving an abortion.”
  • 33 states now have more women living in poverty compared to three years ago. 13.4% of the nation’s females live in poverty. New Hampshire, which has the lowest percentage of women living in poverty, had an increase from 6.3% in 2007 to 8.5% in 2010.
  • 23.7% of African-American, 23.1% of Hispanic and 9.7% of Caucasian women in the USA live in poverty.
  • Heart disease death rates vary considerably from state-to-state. In Hawaii there are 60.9 deaths per 100,000 women, compared to the District of Columbia with 174.8 per 100,000.
  • Obesity rates also vary, from 36.8% of all adult females in Mississippi to 19.4% in Colorado.
  • 12.9% of all adult females in West Virginia have diabetes, compared to 5% in Alaska.

“Choose a State for Status and Policy Data”

“Making the Grade on Women’s Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card”

Written by Christian Nordqvist