Posted on Friday, May 19, 2017 1:19 PM
Across the nation, staying healthy is an important part of being able to age-in-place. Residents of Minnesota, Utah and Hawaii seem so have the upper hand on other seniors.
According to the 2017 America’s Health Rankings Senior Report from the United Health Foundation, these three states are the healthiest states in the union for older adults.
The rankings are based on the following:
• The states score on 34 core measures, including obesity, smoking, poverty, excessive drinking and health screenings
• Home health care availability, as determined by Bureau of Labor Statistics data on number of aides per 1,000 adults aged 75 and older
According to America’s Health Rankings Senior Report 2017, here is the list of the healthiest states: Minnesota, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Mississippi ranked lowest on the list, preceded by Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. That’s a slight improvement for the The Pelican State, which sat at the very bottom last year.
The following states shot up in the rankings:
• California improved 12 places, from 28th to 16th place
• South Dakota went from 25th to 15th place in this year’s rankings
The following states seemed to struggle:
• Pennsylvania tumbled from 18th place to 26th place in one year’s time
• Alaska fell eight points, going from 21st to 29th place
According to the latest numbers, some clinical care measures for Medicare beneficiaries over the age of 65 have improved on the whole since 2013.
The following achievements have been recorded:
• A 25% reduction in preventable hospitalizations
• A 30% decrease in hospital deaths
• A 7% decrease in hospital readmissions
• A 9% reduction in visits to the ICU in the last six months of life
The survey data shows the following troubling signs related to seniors’ savings:
• 62% of retired seniors over the age of 65 have less in total retirement savings than what’s recommended for just health care costs
• Current and future seniors who have saved $20,000 or less are likely to be in poor health and suffer from chronic diseases than those who have more money
• Half of all surveyed retired seniors and 36% of non-retired adults between the ages of 50 and 64 are unsure of the money needed for health care costs during retirement
For the full results, read this year’s report.
For the full article, click here.
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