RED STATES NEED HEATHCARE REFORM MOST

AND YET THEIR REPUBLICAN REPS ARE DEAD SET AGAINST ANY REFORM! INEXPLICABLY, THE POOR VOTE AGAINST THEIR OWN BEST INTERESTS ONCE AGAIN.

FROM CROOKSANDLIARS.COM:

As Forbes noted:

The annual ranking looks at 22 indicators of health, including everything from how many children receive recommended vaccinations, to obesity and smoking rates, to cancer deaths.

The diagnosis isn't pretty for Republicans committed to denying the health care their constituents need most of all. The 2009 rankings (above) reveal that nine of the top 10 healthiest states voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Conversely, 9 of the 10 cellar dwellers backed John McCain in 2008; four years earlier, the 15 unhealthiest states voted for George W. Bush for President.

With Vermont topping the list and Mississippi bringing up the rear, Americans would do to listen to Dr. Howard Dean and not Governor Haley Barbour when it comes to the health care debate.

Vermont ranked first this year thanks in part to its low rate of obesity, high number of doctors and a low rate of child poverty. New England in general sets a benchmark for the country, the report found. All six New England states are in the top 10. These states have favorable demographics and an excellent public health infrastructure, including a large number of doctors per capita.

Eight of the 10 bottom-ranked states are from the south, with Mississippi coming in dead last for the ninth consecutive year. Mississippi has a sky-high death rate from heart disease and high infant mortality. In general, residents of these states are more likely to be smokers or to be obese, the report found. They also have worse health insurance coverage, fewer physicians per capita and live in areas with high violent crime and more child poverty.

As it turns out, Mississippi residents aren't merely the sickest in the United States. They are also plagued by the worst state health care system in America.

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