Texas Drops to 37 in Nationwide Health Rankings, Worst Insured Rate and Increased Diabetes to Blame

Texas Drops to 37 in Nationwide Health Rankings, Worst Insured Rate and Increased Diabetes to Blame: Texas continued its slide in United Health Foundation's 2018 'America's Health Rankings Annual Report,' where it went from 33rd in the nation in 2016 to 37th in 2018. On the brighter side, the report found that high school graduation increased, cancer and drug deaths decreased, smoking rates went down while the number of primary care physicians increased. But the worst insured rate in the nation and increases in diabetes rates, physical activity, cardiovascular deaths and mental distress were enough to bump Texas down a few spots. The report measures states' health via 35 measures across five categories: behaviors, community and environment, policy, clinical care and outcomes. Texas was ranked 19th overall in behaviors, scoring fifth in the nation in high school graduation as a percent of students (89.1) and fifth best in drug deaths (10 per 100,000 population). Compared to 2017, high school graduation went down slightly and drug deaths notched up. But Texas ranked 46 in physical