Not a shock, sadly
Indiana gets 'F' for women's health
By Barb Berggoetz
“By and large, states are failing to meet minimum standards when it comes to women’s health,” said Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center vice president for health and reproductive rights in a written release.
“The states’ patchwork policies regarding women’s health result in far too many women falling through the cracks and not accessing the services they need to maintain optimal health.”
Nationally, the overall status of women’s health looks grim, according to this report. No state received an overall “satisfactory” grade, the highest rank. The top three states - Vermont, Minnesota and Massachusetts - received “satisfactory minus” grades. Most states earned an “unsatisfactory” grade.
Women’s health status in Indiana is among the worst in the nation, found a comprehensive national and state-by-state analysis of state policies and female health conditions released today.
Indiana ranked 40th among the states and Washington D.C. and received an “F” grade on the report card developed the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health and Science University.
“By and large, states are failing to meet minimum standards when it comes to women’s health,” said Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center vice president for health and reproductive rights in a written release.
“The states’ patchwork policies regarding women’s health result in far too many women falling through the cracks and not accessing the services they need to maintain optimal health.”
Nationally, the overall status of women’s health looks grim, according to this report. No state received an overall “satisfactory” grade, the highest rank. The top three states - Vermont, Minnesota and Massachusetts - received “satisfactory minus” grades. Most states earned an “unsatisfactory” grade.
“It’s rather depressing, I think, to be 40th,” said Dr. Robert Deaton, co-director of the St. Vincent Center for Women’s health. “But as a nation as a whole, no state did well.”
Eleven other states, mostly in the South, received an overall “F” grade. Kentucky was the only other Midwest state to get that grade. The last time this triennial report was released in 2004, Indiana ranked 41st, but got an “unsatisfactory” - the grade just above failing.
“We’d do better if we’d work harder at preventive care, wellness and prevention,” said Deaton.
The analysis is based on 27 health status benchmarks developed largely by using goals set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2010 initiative. Among the issues measured were women’s access to health care services, including insurance and prenatal care and percentages of women who receive Pap Smears, mammograms, colorectal and cholesterol screenings.
Indiana’s relatively high percentages of women who are obese (26 percent), smoke (25 percent) and don’t exercise (28.7 percent) garnered individual “F” grades. Similarly, the percentages of women with high blood pressure (25.9 percent) and diabetes (7.8 percent) also were high enough to get a failing grade.
The report, called Making the Grade for Women’s Health, is the fourth in a series of triennial reports. The full report is available at http://hrc.nwlc.org/.
By Barb Berggoetz
“By and large, states are failing to meet minimum standards when it comes to women’s health,” said Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center vice president for health and reproductive rights in a written release.
“The states’ patchwork policies regarding women’s health result in far too many women falling through the cracks and not accessing the services they need to maintain optimal health.”
Nationally, the overall status of women’s health looks grim, according to this report. No state received an overall “satisfactory” grade, the highest rank. The top three states - Vermont, Minnesota and Massachusetts - received “satisfactory minus” grades. Most states earned an “unsatisfactory” grade.
Women’s health status in Indiana is among the worst in the nation, found a comprehensive national and state-by-state analysis of state policies and female health conditions released today.
Indiana ranked 40th among the states and Washington D.C. and received an “F” grade on the report card developed the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health and Science University.
“By and large, states are failing to meet minimum standards when it comes to women’s health,” said Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center vice president for health and reproductive rights in a written release.
“The states’ patchwork policies regarding women’s health result in far too many women falling through the cracks and not accessing the services they need to maintain optimal health.”
Nationally, the overall status of women’s health looks grim, according to this report. No state received an overall “satisfactory” grade, the highest rank. The top three states - Vermont, Minnesota and Massachusetts - received “satisfactory minus” grades. Most states earned an “unsatisfactory” grade.
“It’s rather depressing, I think, to be 40th,” said Dr. Robert Deaton, co-director of the St. Vincent Center for Women’s health. “But as a nation as a whole, no state did well.”
Eleven other states, mostly in the South, received an overall “F” grade. Kentucky was the only other Midwest state to get that grade. The last time this triennial report was released in 2004, Indiana ranked 41st, but got an “unsatisfactory” - the grade just above failing.
“We’d do better if we’d work harder at preventive care, wellness and prevention,” said Deaton.
The analysis is based on 27 health status benchmarks developed largely by using goals set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2010 initiative. Among the issues measured were women’s access to health care services, including insurance and prenatal care and percentages of women who receive Pap Smears, mammograms, colorectal and cholesterol screenings.
Indiana’s relatively high percentages of women who are obese (26 percent), smoke (25 percent) and don’t exercise (28.7 percent) garnered individual “F” grades. Similarly, the percentages of women with high blood pressure (25.9 percent) and diabetes (7.8 percent) also were high enough to get a failing grade.
The report, called Making the Grade for Women’s Health, is the fourth in a series of triennial reports. The full report is available at http://hrc.nwlc.org/.