Essay on Understanding Georgia's Poor Health Status: Key Indicators & Impact

Introduction

Explanation of Your State's Key Health Indicators and How These Indicators Influence Health Status.Georgia State is among the twenty-six states that received a D grade in the annual health report card ranking (Bradley, Elkins, Herrin, & Elbel, 2011). This health report card ranking was based on various key health indicators such as the mortality rate, access to healthcare, and the quality of life. Georgia has a very high mortality rate, with most individuals dying at the age of thirty-two (Parrish, 2010). Most of the deaths are dying as a result of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, and respiratory diseases. Access to healthcare and healthcare services is very poor within the state since some people do not have access to some health services such as dental services. The quality of life within the population is also very poor, with numerous cases of mental health and low birth weight being reported among the population. The health indicators reflected in the health report card influence the population health status in that they show that the general health of the entire Georgian population is very poor. For instance, People in the area are suffering from various health conditions that are brought about by reduced access to healthcare, thus leading to a high mortality rate.

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How the Health Status and Health Indicators Relates to What Is and What Is Not Covered Under Medicare and Medicaid and the Direct and Indirect Burdens of Health Risk Behaviors and Disease

The poor health status of the population has been triggered by the state's failure to expand its Medicaid and Medicare program to the affordable care act. (Rothenberg, Stauber, Weaver, Dai, Prasad, & Kano, 2015). This means that poor individuals cannot have access to healthcare services since they are not covered in the Medicaid program, which is meant to cover the patient bills. The Medicaid and Medicare program is only available the individuals in the high-income bracket since the state does not offer any subsidies to the poor individuals. The increased health risk behaviors and diseases in the area are creating a huge burden on the population. Some of these burdens can be reflected in terms of; first, the cost incurred when catering for the patient medical expenses. Secondly, the increased morbidity and premature mortality rate in the area.

How Policy Impacts Key Health Indicators and Burdens of Health Risk Behaviors and Disease.Developing and implementing healthcare policies that regulate the healthcare system in Georgia state will create a huge impact in the area. For instance, the policies will help to reduce the increased burden of the health risk behaviors and diseases in the area. Also, the health indicators used in the health report cared will also improve. Implementation of policies will ensure that the state is providing quality healthcare and healthcare services to the population, thus improving the population health status.

References

Bradley, E. H., Elkins, B. R., Herrin, J., & Elbel, B. (2011). Health and social services expenditures: associations with health outcomes. BMJ Qual Saf, 20(10), 826-831. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/messages/downloadsexceeded.html

Parrish, R. G. (2010). Peer-reviewed: Measuring population health outcomes. Preventing chronic disease, 7(4). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2901569/

Rothenberg, R., Stauber, C., Weaver, S., Dai, D., Prasad, A., & Kano, M. (2015). Urban health indicators and indices-current status. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 494. Retrieved from https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1827-x