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Now Available on State Health Compare: Updated Measures on Access and Cost of Care, Public Health, Health Behaviors and Outcomes, and Social and Economic Factors
May 6, 2020:SHADAC has added two brand new measures and updated four previously existing measures with the latest available estimates on the State Health Compare website.
The new measures include:
Broadband Internet Access
This measure indicates the percentage of non-group quarters households that have a broadband internet subscription, which includes a cellular data plan, cable, fiber optic, DSL, or satellite internet service. Households counted in this measure are also limited to those that pay a cell phone or internet service provider for the broadband access, as households that have access to broadband internet without paying for it do exist, but are a relatively small percentage (3.0 percent in 2018). Estimates are available for years 2016-2018 and can be broken down by family income levels, metropolitan status, Medicaid coverage, and disability status.
Medical Out-of-Pocket Spending
The state-level estimates for this measure indicate the annual median family medical out-of-pocket spending (MOOP), including premiums, for individuals in the civilian noninstitutionalized population. “Out-of-pocket” (OOP) is the term used to describe the costs of health care that are not covered by health insurance but paid for out of an individual’s own resources. These costs include premiums and medical expenses not covered by their medical plan, including copays for doctor and dentist visits, diagnostic tests, prescription medicine, glasses and contacts, and medical supplies. This measure can also be viewed by coverage type for those with employer-based coverage, and is available for years 2017 and 2018.
The updated measures include:
State Public Health Funding
Estimates for this measure represent the dollar amount of state per capita public health funding during the fiscal year. Data is available starting in 2005 (except in 2006, when no data was available) through 2019.
Unemployment Rate
This measure records the rate of unemployment (seasonally adjusted) as a percentage for each state. Estimates are available from 2000 through 2018.
Opioid-related Drug Poisoning Deaths
The measure for opioid-related drug poisoning deaths encompasses all age-adjusted rates of deaths caused by drug poisoning (i.e., overdose) per 100,000 people. Data breakdowns are available for users to select by individual drug types, which now include natural and semi-synthetic opioids, synthetic opioids (non-methadone), the illegal opioid heroin, cocaine, and psychostimulants, as well as rolling up into selective “all opioids” and “all drugs” categories. Estimates are available from 1999-2018.
Health Status
This measure encompasses the percentange of adults who report being in either "fair" or "poor" health. Estimates can be viewed by demographics including education level and race/ethnicity, and are available beginning in 2005 through 2017, and also from 2017-2018 after the Current Population Survey (CPS), from which this measure is drawn, updated their data processing system.
Explore these updated estimates on State Health Compare!
Data Sources
The State Health Compare estimates for broadband internet access come from the American Community Survey (ACS). The measures of median medical out-of-pocket spending and health status come from the Current Population Survey (CPS). Per person state public health funding estimates are from the Trust for America’s Health annual Impact of Chronic Underfunding on America’s Public Health System report. Unemployment rates are produced using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimates for the opioid-related drug poisoning deaths measure come from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) WONDER database.