by Kara Arzamendia, CDF-Minnesota Research Director

Minnesota’s Slippery Slope: State Drops to 6th Place in National Health Ranking

On Wednesday, November 18, the Star Tribune reported on the new national health rankings published by UnitedHealth Foundation.

The report rank ordered states on various health measures and found Minnesota dropped to 6^th place in 2009. Minnesota, who was ranked No. 1 from 2003 through 2006, has slipped steadily reaching an all time low for this decade. In fact, from 2000 to 2007 Minnesota was always ranked 1^st or 2^nd.

So what happened? According to the findings, Minnesota ranks lower for health determinants than for health outcomes, which indicates that our overall “healthiness” may be declining. For example, Minnesota ranks 46^th in public health funding with only $40 being spent per person, while the No. 1 state is spending $220 per person on public health care. This might explain why Minnesota ranks poorly in the percent of pregnant women receiving prenatal care (No. 28 with 70.2 percent) and the percent of children receiving immunizations (No. 26 with 77.4 percent). Moreover the percent of children living in poverty has increased to 15.6 percent, an all time high for the decade.

Jim Koppel, Regional Director of CDF–MN said, "Investments in children will reap benefits for all of us for years to come.  Children who have access to health care, good nutrition and living in economically stable families will do better in school, and ultimately become successful adults.  Better outcomes benefits all of us."

Interestingly, Minnesotans are also not getting their fruits and vegetables falling from No. 1 in 2000 to No. 44 in 2009 with only 19.4 percent getting the daily dose of fruits and vegetables they need. 

However Minnesota does rank high on some key measures, ranking No. 1 in physical activity, the percent of the adult population with high cholesterol and diabetes, and the number of premature deaths and cardiovascular deaths.

So where do we go from here? Unfortunately, none of the measures directly related to children were ranked in the top ten. While many of these health measures are preventable for adults, children look to us to make sure they get their fruits and vegetables and their immunizations. Health care coverage for all children would place children on a trajectory for good health practices and decisions, which would last through childhood and later on in life. This in turn would benefit all of us in decreased health care expenditures, high health rankings, and the positive health outcomes we’ve come to expect here in Minnesota.