Poverty and Chronic Disease: Returning to a County Near You
Trump is right about one thing. One day, COVID—19 will go away. Well, it may not go completely away. It is probably more likely to become endemic like the common cold or flu, but one day, we may have a vaccine or therapeutic drug that will knock a case of it back in a few days a limit the spread of it as well as the mortality. What we will face in Mississippi then is what we have always faced. That is, a state that is 50th in health outcomes and first in poverty.
I realize that we get tired of hearing how bad Mississippi is in everything from its roads to its health status, but these things have something in common with the risk for even an infectious disease. For example, policy and spending on infrastructure, defunding of rural hospitals and allowing our roads and bridges to decay is a political decision the state has been willing to live with. Further, our overall health status puts us at greater risk for COVID. Hypertension and obesity are both “comorbidities” that have increased risks associated with poor COVID—19 outcomes.
Why is that important to us? Well, we rank number 1 in state rankings of overweight and obese adults according to the Robert Wood Johnson’s Obesity Report and we rank 4th in hypertension. We’re actually tied with West Virginia as of 2019 for first in obesity but number 1 if you look at overweight and obesity. We’re the second most inactive state behind Kentucky, and guess what? Third in diabetes now!! Thank god for West Virginia and Alabama; number 1 and 2 respectively.
So, what I am suggesting is, one day, when COVID is no longer the headline, if we don’t do something different in the area of policy and health behavior, we will be back to leading the nation in poverty and the accompanying health issues that keep Mississippi near the bottom in health rankings. That affects our ability to attract industry due to an unhealthy workforce and unnecessary health care costs and more importantly, shortens the lives of our friends and families after years of disability. We like to brag about being conservative and not accepting federal dollars. In fact, we have claimed the US can’t provide health care for all who need it. Well, I guess we have dispelled that myth since we have spent trillions on one single health condition. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Mississippi gets $2 back for every $1 it pays in federal income tax. We have known for decades poverty and health status are also related. So why don’t we embrace a plan to expand Medicaid for those who need it, stop bad-mouthing the Affordable Care Act and embrace preventive care? Make no mistake. Our fate is tied to our behavior and the choices on policy that we are willing to live with. We are choosing poor health by default. We need to change that. We have nothing to lose but our poor health rankings and our podium position related to poverty. And we might just fair better when it comes to risks for infectious disease as well.