La. listed as 2nd-unhealthiest state

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 27, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:35 a.m.

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Louisiana is the second unhealthiest state in the country, according to state rankings released Wednesday.

Neighboring Mississippi was ranked the unhealthiest state, while Minnesota was named the healthiest in the country, according to a report by the CQ Press.

Louisiana did manage to improve one spot from last year’s rankings, in which the Bayou State was named the unhealthiest.

“The numbers are sad, horrifying and tragic. This is not a list we want to be on the bottom of,” said Alan Levine, secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals.

The rankings, put out by the Congressional Quarterly Inc.-owned CQ Press, are contained in the publication “Health Care State Rankings 2008: Health Care Across America.”

The rankings are based on 21 factors that reflect each state’s access to health-care providers, emphasis on preventative care, affordability of health care and the general health of each state’s population, the CQ Press reported.

The 21 factors are split into the negatives, such as infant mortality rates, and positives, such as safety belt usage, the CQ Press report says. The rates for the 21 factors are processed through a formula and then compared to the national average for a given category.

Ben Krasney, a spokesman for CQ Press, said the state health rankings issued Wednesday are not based on a specific period of time or reporting period. Krasney said the rankings and percentages in the report are from the last available statistics for each factor.

Louisiana’s negatives include:

• No. 1 in cancer deaths in 2004.
• No. 1 in percentage of population lacking access to primary care in 2007.
• No. 2 in percentage of adults who do not exercise, in 2006.
• No. 2 in the infant mortality rate in 2005.
• No. 5 in AIDS rate in 2005.

“We haven’t really moved the needle on a lot of these negative factors,” he said.

Erwin said Louisiana’s problems with health have always been tied to two core factors: poverty and a lack of education.

He also said a lack of access to primary care leads to increased deaths.

“Primary care is the key,” Erwin said. “When the access to care is low, you can’t catch problems and there’s a lack of preventative care as well.”