U. S. States Do Poorly in Women"s Health
Not a single U. S. state meets basic federal goals for women"s health, and the nation as a whole fails except in two areas — mammograms (乳腺X光照片) and dental (牙齿的) check-ups — researchers said on Thursday.
Millions of women lack health insurance, and states make it difficult to enroll (加入) in Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance plan for the poor, according to the report.
And few states are doing anywhere near enough to help women quit smoking-the leading cause of death in the United States.
"The nation as a whole and the individual states fall short of meeting national goals," reads the report, put together by the National Women"s Law Center and the Oregon Health & Science University. "These health goals provide a road map for assessing the status of women"s health."
Of 27 measures examined by the group, from screening for diseases to actually treating them, the nation passes on only two, the researchers said. "The nation is so far from the health goals that it receives an overall grade of "unsatisfactory"," they wrote.
The problem seems to be a lack among states of an overall plan for health in general, the NWLC said.
"State policy makers" piecemeal (一件一件做的) approach to our health care cr has resulted in a complex and ineffective system that fails to meet the health care needs of women," Judy Waxman, NWLC Vice President for Health, said in a statement.
"Lawmakers need to take a comprehensive, long-term approach to meeting women"s health needs and tackle this serious problem that troubles so many families." U. S. States Do Poorly in Women"s HealthMedicaid is a program aimed at helping ______.