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FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2004

 

 NATIONAL REPORT EXAMINES SOUTH DAKOTA’S 

STATE-PROVIDED HEALTH CARE

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 30, 2004) –  An assessment of health care in the 50 states was released here today. While South Dakota did not appear as either a “trouble spot,” or a “success story,” in the report’s analysis, authors did indicate that unlike many other states, South Dakota avoided making any direct cuts in its Medicaid program, maintaining its eligibility levels and services covered. Moreover, Governor M. Michael Rounds seemed to be moving forward with a number of potentially useful programs.

“It’s kind of good news-bad news that the state didn’t emerge either positively or negatively from the nation as a whole, although it is certainly making progress in areas such as assisted living for people who need long-term care. And it’s good news that the Governor, who took office about a year ago, seems to be taking steps to help the state control the spiraling costs in pharmaceutical drugs,” said the report’s co-author, Richard Greene.

Governing’s analysis of state-funded health care is part of the Government Performance Project, a six-year-old effort, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, to evaluate a wide range of state government management and policy functions. This year’s special report focuses on six critical health care problems facing states: long-term care, public health, mental health, prescription drugs, access to care for the uninsured, and care for children.

 

A few of the report’s other findings about South Dakota:

 

  • The state has very good immunization rates, ranking 11th in the U.S. for vaccinating children 19-35 months old.
  • The state has a severe dental access problem, particularly in its rural areas.
  • The state ranks fifth from the bottom in the percent of pregnant women who receive care in their first trimester.

 

The Government Performance Project found and documented the inability of the 50 states’ healthcare system to deliver improvements in medicine fairly and consistently to many of their citizens. Health care in most states is not just inadequate, the study concluded--it’s deteriorating. “After exhaustive analysis and hundreds of interviews,” says Peter Harkness, Governing’s publisher and editor, “it became clear that there is a health care crisis in America. But it is in no way a medical crisis.  It is a fiscal crisis.” 

 

Governing is a policy and management magazine aimed at high-level state and local government officials. An online version of this report will be available at http://www.governing.com/gpp/2004/intro.htm as of January 29.  Press releases for each of the 50 states can be found at http://www.governing.com/gpp/2004/press.htm.

 

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