Utah Again Ranks Among Nation's Healthiest States

None by Eric Ray

(KCPW News) Utah once again ranked as the sixth healthiest state in the annual America's Health Rankings report from the United Health Foundation. Dr. David Sundwall, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Health says a 15% drop in the state's smoking rates was key to the high ranking.

"I think that society is waking up to the fact that smoking is simply the easiest thing to stop doing that causes death and disability, says Sundwall. "From what I've seen in my adult life, we'll see smoking become a private behavior pretty soon. It's just unacceptable socially and for very good reasons."

Sundwall also credits a strengthened child immunization program where Utah jumped from 46th to 25th overall in the last year.

Despite the positive report, Sundwall says the state needs improvement in other areas. The number of uninsured Utah residents is on the rise. While Medicaid and continued funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program can cover some of the state's 90,000 uninsured children, Sundwall says the Governor has an idea to cover everyone else with a new plan.

"The Utah Health Insurance Exchange would enable people to hopefully purchase more affordable health insurance that's portable and not linked to their employment," says Sundwall. "It's not going to happen overnight, but we've got to tackle this because when people don't have insurance, it shows up in lower public health."

Utah also ranks just 45th in the number of primary care physicians per capita, a particularly urgent problem in the state's rural areas. Sundwall would like to see incentives, like loan forgiveness programs or enhanced reimbursement, for doctors to settle in underserved areas.

A link to the America's Health Rankings report is available here.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW