West Virginia Health Insurance

How Healthy is your State?

The Good News

• Strengths include a low prevalence of binge drinking at 9.3 percent of the population
• High public health funding at $128 per person
• A low violent crime rate at 274 offenses per 100,000 population
• West Virginia ranks higher for health determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness should improve over time.

The Challenge for Health Care in your State

• Challenges include a high prevalence of smoking at 26.5 percent of the population
• A high prevalence of obesity at 31.9 percent of the population
• Many poor mental and physical health days per month at 4.5 days and 5.5 days, in the previous 30 days
• High levels of air pollution at 13.6 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter
• A high rate of preventable hospitalizations with 109.3 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.

Most Recent Changes for Health Care in your State

• In the past year, geographic disparity within the state increased from 10.2 percent to 11.7 percent.
• In the past five years, the percentage of children in poverty decreased from 26.7 percent to 21.8 percent of persons under age 18.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0 percent to 31.9 percent of the population.