Data Graphics

Analysis of data from HPIO’s 2023 Health Value Dashboard shows that Hispanic and Black Ohioans face barriers to health care because of costs. Data shows that Hispanic Ohioans are 2.4 times more likely to be unable to see a doctor due to cost compared to white Ohioans, as illustrated above. Black Ohioans are 1.6 times more likely than white Ohioans to face financial challenges to receiving medical care. If disparities were eliminated in Ohio, 76,449 fewer Hispanic and Black Ohioans would face a cost barrier to accessing care.

The Dashboard found that Black and Latino Ohioans often experience worse outcomes than white Ohioans across measures of health, healthcare access and the social, economic and physical environment and that racism and bias are primary drivers of poor outcomes experienced by those groups. These disparities in outcomes lead to missed economic opportunities for Ohio.

Next month, HPIO plans to release a new policy brief that will quantify the positive economic impacts of eliminating racial disparities for Ohio businesses, governments and communities.

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released an action guide that highlights policy options for improving employment, 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 employment recommendations in the Action and Accountability report and provides state and local health stakeholders with additional information and tools to support next steps.

“Employment that pays a self-sustaining wage and offers health insurance and other benefits can pave the way for good health and positive birth outcomes,” according to the guide.

The action guide highlights policies prioritized by HPIO’s Social Drivers of Infant Mortality Advisory Group. For example, one policy recommendation in the brief is for state and local policymakers to expand paid family leave benefits to 12 weeks or more and eliminate or mitigate the impact of waiting periods to access paid leave for public employees. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have paid family leave laws, as illustrated above.

HPIO recently released similar action guides on housing, education and transportation. In the coming weeks, HPIO plans to release another guide on eliminating racism.

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

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.