Data Graphics

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released an action guide that highlights policy options for improving transportation, one of the social drivers of infant mortality in Ohio.

HPIO recently produced the Social Drivers of Infant Mortality: Recommendations for Action and Accountability in Ohio report as an update to the 2017 A New Approach to Reduce Infant Mortality and Achieve Equity report.

The action guide takes a closer look at the transportation recommendations in the Action and Accountability report and provides state and local health stakeholders with additional information and tools to support next steps.

The guide highlights how transportation affects health and overall well-being in several ways, including by impacting access to care, health behaviors and health outcomes through the ability to get to health care, jobs, school, child care, social services, grocery stores, parks, libraries and other destinations. As illustrated above, Ohioans who are insured through Medicaid face particular challenges with avoiding or delaying care due to a lack of transportation.

Earlier this spring, HPIO released similar action guides on housing and education. In the coming weeks, HPIO plans to release guides on employment and eliminating racism.

The guide and additional tools posted on HPIO’s website can be used to prioritize, advocate for and implement the recommendations.

With wildfire smoke from Canada causing air quality warnings in many states, data from HPIO’s 2023 Health Value Dashboard shows that Ohio was already lagging behind most other states on metrics related to outdoor air pollution (as displayed in the graphic above).

Inhaling polluted air (e.g., wildfire smoke), even in amounts lower than current National Ambient Air Quality Standards, increases the likelihood of poor health outcomes. Longer exposure to polluted air further increases negative health outcomes, which include effects on:

• Maternal and infant health
• Lung, heart and cognitive conditions
• Cancers

Analysis of Dashboard data finds that the physical environment, which includes outdoor air quality, has a stronger correlation with the overall health of a state than access to care. This suggests that improving environmental conditions, like air quality, can improve the health and well-being of Ohioans.

HPIO’s 2023 Health Value Dashboard includes, for the first time, an equity profile for LGBTQ+ Ohioans. Among the data highlighted in the profile is that LGBTQ+ adults in Ohio are much more likely to be diagnosed with depression than their heterosexual and/or cisgender peers, as displayed above.

Homophobia and transphobia are primary drivers of poor outcomes experienced by LGBTQ+ Ohioans, the Dashboard states. Experiencing these forms of discrimination can cause toxic stress, leading to poor health outcomes over time. Thus, LGBTQ+ Ohioans often experience worse outcomes than heterosexual and/or cisgender Ohioans across measures of health and the social environment. Policies and practices that limit access to necessary health care and a lack of protections for Ohioans based on sexual orientation and gender identity contribute to worse health outcomes for LGBTQ+ people compared to their heterosexual and/or cisgender peers.

As national celebrations begin for Pride Month, it is important to note that there are evidence-informed strategies that Ohio leaders can adopt to improve health disparities for LGBTQ+ Ohioans. By ensuring access to developmentally appropriate care, improving provider education and including sexual orientation and gender identity in anti-discrimination laws, Ohio can close gaps in health outcomes for LGBTQ+ Ohioans.

HPIO has updated data first included in its January Health Value Dashboard policy brief, “A closer look at outdoor air pollution and health.”

The updated 2020 data (the most-recent year for which data is available) shows that racial disparities persist in exposure to air pollution, with the index of exposure for Black Ohioans being almost 1.5 times higher than white Ohioans, as displayed in the graphic above.

Much of that difference can be explained by historic zoning policies and redlining that placed industrial plants and highways closer to predominantly Black neighborhoods and prohibited Black people from moving to areas farther away from these sources of pollution.

These policies increased both past and present risk of exposure to air pollution for Black Ohioans. Similar policy decisions made by federal, state and local officials left Black neighborhoods with less maintenance services (e.g., garbage removal and street cleaning) and without green spaces like parks. Because of these discriminatory policies and their lasting impact, people of color across the U.S. and in Ohio are exposed to higher levels of harmful air pollution.

As stakeholders across the country mark Mental Health Awareness Month, HPIO’s recently released 2023 Health Value Dashboard found that one way health value in Ohio can be improved is by fostering mental well-being. Ohio leaders can build on lessons learned from the response to the addiction crisis over the past decade to make Ohio a national leader in behavioral health.

Dashboard data shows that rates of overdose deaths and suicides vary by county (as illustrated above). To support resilience, well-being and recovery in Ohio, the state can target and tailor resources where they are needed most.

“Across the U.S. and in Ohio, the toll of behavioral health crises continues to rise, including increases in drug overdose and suicide deaths,” According to the Dashboard. However, the state does have strengths upon which to address the issue. “The state has also improved overall access to care over the past decade, which is an important advantage to getting more Ohioans the help they need.”

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released the tenth edition of Ohio Medicaid Basics, a primer that provides an overview of the Medicaid program in Ohio.

The 2023 edition includes information on Medicaid eligibility, covered groups and services, delivery systems, financing, spending and recent policy and programmatic changes. In addition to giving an overview of the program, the brief details recent changes, such as Medicaid continuous coverage and redetermination, implementation of the Next Generation of Ohio Managed Care initiative and extension of postpartum coverage, as well as describes how the changes affect enrollment and spending.

Ohio Medicaid provides healthcare coverage for about 3.6 million Ohioans (30% of the state’s population, as displayed in the graphic above), most of whom are children, older adults, people with disabilities and adults with low incomes who could not otherwise afford private or employer-sponsored health insurance. The program represents a significant share of government spending in Ohio. In state fiscal year 2022, federal and state expenditures on Medicaid accounted for about 39% of Ohio’s budget, with 73% of the fund coming from the federal government.

HPIO has released Medicaid Basics every two years since 2005.