Newspaper finds Ohio health care does not stack up to Ontario

A study by the Akron Beacon-Journal found that despite spending much more on health care, Ohio ranks below Ontario on a number of public health indicators (Source: “Health-care matchup finds Ohio falls short,” Akron Beacon-Journal, July 20, 2008).

Ontario was chosen for the comparison because it is similar to Ohio in terms of population size, educational attainment, median age, jobs and salaries.

Among the findings were that life expectancy in Ontario is more than four years greater than in Ohio and 8 in 1,000 Ohio newborns die each year, compared to 5.5 in Canada. At the same time, Ohio spends about 6 percent more than the national average of $7,000 per person, per year on health care and Ontario spends less than $2,000 per person annually.

At least part of the spending difference can be explained by the high concentration of Ontario’s population that lives in or near Toronto, making for a much less expensive health care infrastructure. The diet and lifestyle choices of Ohioans also are cited as explanations for the disparity in health and costs.

As part of a package of stories on health care, the Beacon-Journal also included a profile of an uninsured family from Copley, Ohio, that is struggling to obtain treatment for their daughter with cancer (source: “Insurance misery has no easy cure,” Akron Beacon-Journal, July 20, 2008) and transcripts from a focus group discussing health care in Ohio (source: ''It's almost like they've conceded they can't beat the insurance companies,'' Akron Beacon-Journal, July 20, 2008)