When the Legislature and governor started throwing people off MinnesotaCare a few years ago, opponents claimed the action would turn Minnesota into another Mississippi. But it's tough to beat Mississippi in the "race for worst" when you're competing against... Mississippi.
That state kept its ranking as least healthy state in the nation.
And Minnesota? It has fallen all the way to... #2 according to a survey released today that tracks the state of health in the United States. Minnesota swapped positions with Vermont, the survey said. And at first blush, you can blame two major indices: the rate of uninsured, and the amount of food we're shoving in our mouths.
Of 20 major standards, Minnesota improved in seven -- Fewer smokers, less binge drinking, preventable hospitalizations, poor mental health days (best in the nation), poor physical health days, infant mortality and cancer deaths.
It lost ground in five areas. We're fatter (slipping from 20th to 21st), we don't graduate high school as often (We were #1 in high school graduation in 1990 and have been slipping ever since; down to #7 this year), we get killed at work more often, we don't have health insurance (1st to 4th), and we don't get our children immunized at the rate we once did.
Because of the cuts in MinnesotaCare in recent years, the rate of uninsured in Minnesota is up from 7.9 percent to 9.2 percent. The percentage of Minnesotans in poverty is up to 11.1 percent. Vermont improved from 15th to 9th in this area, yet still trails Minnesota.
But it's the obesity that's killing us. In 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 10.2 percent in 1990Â to 24.7 percent. Think of that: One out of every four of us is obese. (Background: See MPR"S Fight Against Fat)
In Minnesota, by the way, you are 63 percent more likely to die a premature death, if you're black.
But even though Minnesota improved in its rate of binge drinking by teenagers, the accomplishment is hardly worth a toast. How bad is it? We're 41st in the amount of binge drinking. Mississippi -- the "dead-last state" -- is 4th. Binge drinking, for reasons I have yet to figure out, is a uniquely Upper Midwest tradition and this hasn't changed in years.
Just look at the bottom of the pile: Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin make up 8 of the bottom 11 states.
The report's focus on binge drinking is particularly timely for Minnesota. Last week, a 21-year-old died after, apparently, binge drinking in Mankato to celebrate her birthday.
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Comments: 7
But your connection to not toughening welfare rules, isn't really supported by the anecdotal evidence. We slipped from #1 to #2. Theoretically, if this were related to welfare rules, Wisconsin would've shown a significant increase in health because of its tighter laws. But Wisconsin's overall rank has dropped from 10th to 12th.
Comparing to Minnesota, Wisconsin has more smokers, more binge drinkers, more obesity (a huge jump -- pardon the pun -- from a year earlier), slightly more fatalities on the job, and more children in poverty, more cancer deaths, more premature deaths.
The health care is an interesting story. Minnesota got tough with prenatal care in '02-'04, for poor people. And it shows, We trail Minnesota in providing prenatal care.
I guess the point is we're an attractive place for poor people to come but if that's true, Wisconsin wouldn't be.
Mankato would be a good place to go. A 21 year old died there last week from binge drinking. And early in October the city council there postponed a vote on sweeping liquor law changes... like two-for-ones and "all you can drink" specials.
Students and bar owners testified and what interests me is how they attempted to debate this in the same manner as the smoking ban -- as a combination of being an economic issue and a "government intrusion" issue.
And that's all well and good except that it's illegal for teenagers to drink. Period. Smoking is not illegal.
Which, to me, brings up the role of bar owners and local enforcement. I went by a couple of bars over at the U a few weeks ago and, of course, the bars were packed. I'd be willing to bet that a large majority of people weren't over 21.
So I think part of the reason it's a problem here is because there's a culture of collectively shrugging it off.
New laws just make us feel better and give politicians something to run on.
Excessive consumption, underage drinking, and making new laws when current laws that are not being enforced are societal problems that we shrug off collectively.
Mankato has a serious problem with both booze and STD's. More serious than other colleges in the Midwest. The problem is in part attributable to kids from small towns encountering an environment where no one knows their name, or really cares about what they do.