NEWS
88.1 percent of the U.S. population has a regular place for medical care
According to the CDC, 88.1 percent of the population has a regular place to go for medical care. But the cost and service quality of that care can vary widely from state to state. The overall health of the population, more advanced medical equipment and a general lack of awareness regarding the best types of treatment, for instance, can all affect costs. Today, the average American spends more than $10,000 per year on personal health care, according to the most recent estimates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s about 17.9 percent of the U.S. GDP.
But higher costs don’t necessarily translate to better results. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the U.S. lags behind several other wealthy nations on several measures, such as health coverage, life expectancy and disease burden, which measures longevity and quality of life. However, the U.S. has improved in giving more healthcare access for people in worse health, and healthcare cost growth has slowed somewhat.
Conditions aren’t uniform across the U.S., though. To determine where Americans receive the best and worst health care, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 40 measures of cost, accessibility and outcome. Read on for our findings, expert insight on the future of American health care and a full description of our methodology.
Health Care in Texas (1=Best; 25=Avg.):
- 9th – Avg. Monthly Insurance Premium
- 23rd – Hospital Beds per Capita
- 45th – Physicians per Capita
- 31st – Dentists per Capita
- 43rd – Physician Medicare-Acceptance Rate
- 51st – % of Insured Adults
- 49th – % of Insured Children
- 24th – % of At-Risk Adults with No Routine Doctor Visit in Past Two Years
- 45th – % of Adults with No Dental Visit in Past Year
- 5th – % of Medical Residents Retained
Follow this hyperlink to view the entire 50-state report.
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-best-health-care/23457/
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Trustees of the Bowie Independent School District welcomed one new member this week following the Nov. 5 election and accepted the 2023-24 outside audit with no exceptions.
Incumbent Trustee Jacky Betts returned to place one and Angie Christmas took the place two seat. After the board officers were dissolved with the new ones taking the oath, officers were elected. Betts will continue as president, Guy Green as vice president and Kent Dosch as secretary.
Paul Fleming of Edgin, Parkman, Fleming & Fleming, PC, presented the audit telling there were no issues and the process went smoothly. He noted the biggest change was the Legislature compressing the district tax rate and additional changes in the tax law. State aid formula grants increased due to the state’s funding formula compensating for lost property tax revenue due to the law change previously mentioned.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Information was the watchword for the second hospital/emergency room community meeting Tuesday night, as the steering committee was announced along with additional financial considerations.
About 50 people attended the meeting. Melody Gillespie, who was named chairperson for the committee, said the goal is to gather information to get it out into the community. This group was formed after the Bowie emergency room was closed by Faith Rural Health System in early October just shy of one year of operating in Bowie.
Kylie Ward, one of the public relations volunteers, said, “This committee is not here to force things on you and there are assumptions already we are proposing a tax. We are not, we don’t have that ability, we are just a research team here to explore all the options.”
Other members of the committee include Tiffany Chandler and Damon Benton handling finance and grant research; Jennifer Tellef, secretary; Valerie Tomerson, grant research; Ann Smith, PR and Margin Latham and Gillespie, legislative research. It was pointed out there are other members of the sub-committees who are helping with research, but they also invite anyone interested to help with the process.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – Jack County Judge Keith Umphress spoke at this week’s steering committee meeting. (Photo by Barbara Green)
The following indictments were filed with the 97th District Clerk following the November session of the Montague County Grand Jury.
There were a total of 13 indictments with one sealed awaiting the arrest of a suspect.
A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Read the full list of indictments in your mid-week Bowie News.
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