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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: Disease

Poverty and Child Asthma Rates – New York City

Poor children drive city’s asthma rate, By Sumathi Reddy and Jie Jenny Zou, July 17, 2012, Wall Street Journal: “One in eight New York City children has been diagnosed with asthma, with poor children nearly twice as likely to suffer from the respiratory disease, according to a report to be posted by the city health officials on Wednesday. The report was based on a 2009 survey and is the first time the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has estimated the number of children with asthma. The survey of parents found that 177,000 children 12 years and younger-or 13% of children in that age group-had received an asthma diagnosis at some point in their lives…”

Medicaid Experiment – Oregon

Oregon’s Medicaid experiment represents a ‘defining moment’, By Kristian Foden-Vencil, May 30, 2012, National Public Radio: “The things that Amy Vance does for James Prasad are pretty simple: She calls doctors with him, organizes his meds, and helps him keep tabs on his blood pressure, blood sugar and weight. These simple things – and the relationship between a health coach like Vance and a chronically ill Medicaid patient like Prasad – are a big part of a $2 billion health care experiment in Oregon. Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat and a former emergency room doctor, has convinced the federal government that he has a way to make Medicaid treatment better, and cheaper, by completely changing the way the sickest people in Oregon get health care…”

CDC US Health Report 2011

  • CDC: Higher income and education levels linked to better health, By Alexandra Sifferlin, May 16, 2012, Time: “More educated people who make more money have lower rates of several chronic diseases, including obesity, compared to people with lower education and income levels, according to Health, United States, 2011, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. In the government’s 35th annual comprehensive health report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), data from nearly 60 major data sources within the federal government and in the private sector provide a health-related snapshot of life in the U.S. The NCHS looks at data from the start of the study in 1975 through 2010. ‘We like to highlight different things we find interesting for readers,’ says Amy Bernstein, a health services researcher at NCHS…”
  • Higher education linked to longer life, CDC report shows, By Nanci Hellmich, May 16, 2012, USA Today: “Education may not only improve a person’s finances, it is also linked to better health habits and a longer life. For instance, people who have a bachelor’s degree or higher live about nine years longer than those who don’t graduate from high school, according to an annual report, out today, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Some of the health data reached back a decade or more…”