Assessing Health Issues in States with Large Minority Populations.

Health care spending is often addressed in discussions of budgeting and deficits in the United States. It is important to many Americans that funds allocated for health care spending be allocated and spent in the most efficient and effective manner, leading to improved health outcomes, particularly for underserved populations. Many studies address health care spending, but few address the issue of spending as it relates to societal well-being, or certain health outcomes that adversely impact communities.

Infant mortality in southern states: a bureaucratic nightmare.

Despite numerous advances in technology, medicine, and health care, infant mortality continues to reach very high levels in southern states. The purpose of this paper is to examine demographic, economic, and health care factors that are likely to affect infant mortality. In so doing, we first compare infant mortality and other critical factors in southern states to other regions of the country.

Obesity in America.

Recent data indicate that Americans are gaining weight at an alarming rate. In fact, data from the CDC indicate that the U.S.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program: has it reduced the percentage of uninsured children?

Recent data indicate that the percentage of children in the United States who are uninsured is declining. Although many factors have contributed to that decline, this study assesses the role of public health insurance, specifically the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), in reducing the percentage of uninsured children without health insurance from 1998-2000 and whether Medicaid and SCHIP crowd out exists. While this research confirms a significant decline in the percentage of uninsured children since SCHIP began enrolling children in 1998, other factors, including the poverty rate, the percentage of children on Medicaid, geographic region and race had a greater impact in explaining that result than SCHIP.