Children’s Health Care: Best and Worst States

With Every Kid Healthy Week kicking off on April 23 and children’s health care costs getting increasingly more expensive, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst States for Children's Health Care.

In order to determine which states offer the most cost-effective and highest-quality health care for children, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 30 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of children aged 0 to 17 in excellent or very good health to pediatricians and family doctors per capita.

Best for Children’s Health Care			Worst for Children’s Health Care
1.	Vermont		42.	Arizona
2.	District of Columbia		43.	Alaska
3.	Massachusetts		44.	Wyoming
4.	Connecticut		45.	Oklahoma
5.	New York		46.	Montana
6.	Maryland		47.	Arkansas
7.	Hawaii		48.	Mississippi
8.	New Hampshire		49.	Texas
9.	New Jersey		50.	Louisiana
10.	California		51.	Nevada

Source: WalletHub

Best vs. Worst

• Massachusetts has the lowest share of uninsured children aged 0 to 17, 1.3 percent, which is 8.8 times lower than in Alaska, the highest at 11.5 percent.
• The District of Columbia has the lowest share of children aged 0 to 17 with unaffordable medical bills, 5.20 percent, which is 3.3 times lower than in Nevada, the highest at 17.00 percent.
• The District of Columbia has the most pediatricians per 100,000 residents, 45.52, which is 25.1 times more than in Oklahoma, the fewest at 1.81.
• New Hampshire has the lowest share of obese children aged 10 to 17, 8.50 percent, which is 3.1 times lower than in Mississippi, the highest at 26.20 percent.
• Iowa has the highest share of dentists participating in Medicaid for child dental services, 83.70 percent, which is 5.7 times higher than in New Hampshire, the lowest at 14.80 percent.

For the full report and to see where your state or the District ranks, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-child-health/34455/

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

by John Fisher

Last week my wife and I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, which honors the 168 people (including 15 children) who died in the bombing of the Murrah Federal office building on April 19, 1995. I was greatly moved emotionally.

Staff indicated that it takes about an hour and a half to take the tour that begins on the second floor and makes it way down to the first and then to the bookstore and exit and the ground level. We took two and half-hours and didn’t see all that we would have liked to.

The tour begins with a description of the building and then takes your back to 9 a.m. on April 19, 1995 by listening to a recording of a meeting that began across the street and adjacent federal building. About two minutes into the recording I jumped at the sound of an explosion. We then moved into the next room, which showed scenes and broadcast news reports about the impact of the explosion.

Display in the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum

The next few rooms described the response of police, fire, and emergency medical personnel as well as the city generally. I was impressed by the immediate and long-term work of first responders, including 665 Urban Search and Rescue Teams (USAR) that came with 24 K-9 units from across the nation.

Rescuer photo in the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum 

Responders rescued hundreds of injured people on the day of bombing. The final live victim was pulled from the ruins at 7 p.m. Finally, after a week it was determined that no more people could be alive. The rescue process ended and the recovery process began. On May 5th the search was called off because of potential danger to responders. On May 23rd the building was demolished, with three people unaccounted for. On May 30th, their bodies were discovered as workers removed the rubble.

I learned how eagerly the citizens of Oklahoma City answered any appeal for help. And, how determined they became in face of disaster. They pulled together and became united in their efforts to recover form the tragedy.

The media helped tremendously in the response by keeping the public informed and by sharing appeals for help when needed. They respected the privacy of victims and their family and treated all with dignity.

On the first floor we walked into a room with windows that provided a panoramic view of the memorial which consists of a pond the length and width of a city street next to where the Murrah Building stood. At either end are large block monuments with the time of the blast inscribed. Across the pond are 168 chairs on a grassy knoll (the original site of the building) representing the 168 people who died in the explosion.

Oklahoma City National Memorial shows 168 chairs for each person who died