United Health Group has released a new report that compares state rankings for around 180 unique topics that are related to the health and wellbeing of reproductive-age women and children. According to the report, Mississippi leads the nation in infant childcare costs, ADHD treatment for children, and cervical cancer screenings. But the state also has the highest rates of poverty and food insufficiency among women and children, as well as the highest rate of infant mortality.
Dr. Ravi Johar is Chief Medical Officer with United Healthcare. He says the main thread connecting many of Mississippi’s lower rankings is poverty.
“Food insecurity, violence, safe housing, those we’re finding have an incredible impact on health of everybody,” says Dr. Johar. “And that’s an area that I think this report highlights is that those issues are occurring for these residents in Mississippi. And when those are occurring, you start to see those effects in their health also.”
Some aspects of the study found seemingly contradictory data. Dr. Johar says Mississippi has a low number of women’s health providers but has the highest rate of cervical cancer screening in the nation. He says those providers must be working at high volumes to reach that benchmark.
The report does not have specific calls to action for lawmakers. But Dr. Johar says the data can provide a roadmap for what is working in the state and what needs more attention.
Dr. Johar says “This is just a compilation of data, and the idea of obtaining this is to get this information out to the decision-makers, the lawmakers, public officials, public health officials especially, to look to see what is going on in their communities, what is happening in their state.”
The report has also found a 97 percent increase in teen suicide rates from the first measurement period of 2012 to 2014, and this report that took place from 2017 to 2019.
