Here are eleven things to know:
1. The South, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes 17 states, stretching from Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas on the West to the Atlantic Ocean on the East, and northward to Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and West Virginia.
2. As of 2014, over 118 million individuals lived in the South, accounting for more than 37 percent of the total U.S. population.
3. People of color make up 42 percent of the population living in the South compared to 36 percent in the remaining United States. In particular, 19 percent of African Americans account for a greater share of the Southern population compared to 8 percent in the remaining areas of the United States.
4. Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia have least one-in-five residents living in poverty.
5. Overall, 20 percent of adults living in the South report fair or poor health status, compared to 16 percent of adults in the Midwest and Northeast and 17 percent of adults in the West.
6. The states with the nation’s highest adult diabetes rates are all in the South, as are the states with the nation’s highest obesity rates.
7. Overall, the infant mortality rate in the South is higher (6.7 per 1,000 live births) compared to that in other regions (6.4 per 1,000 in the Midwest, 5.2 per 1,000 in the Northeast and 5.0 per 1,000 in the West). The South also has a higher rate of cancer-related deaths (171.4 per 100,000) compared to the Northeast (164.1 per 100,000) and West (151.9 per 100,000).
8. Among the total non-elderly population, 15 percent of individuals in the South are uninsured compared to 10 percent of individuals in the rest of the country. Uninsured rates are lower for children compared to non-elderly adults, but children and non-elderly adults in the South are still more likely to be uninsured than those in the rest of the country.
9. Medicaid and CHIP eligibility levels are more limited in the South compared to other regions. This finding reflects the fact that most states in the South have no adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion to adults. As of January 2016, 10 of the 17 states in the South are not moving forward with the Medicaid expansion. In these states, eligibility levels for parents remain low and other adults without dependent children remain ineligible, regardless of their income.
10. Among Southern states, those that have adopted the Medicaid expansion generally have lower uninsured rates as of 2014 compared to those that have not adopted the expansion. Louisiana has a relatively high uninsured rate compared to other Southern states that have adopted the Medicaid expansion because it has not yet been implemented in the state (the expansion it scheduled to go into effect as of July 2016).
11. Based on current Medicaid expansion decisions, 42 percent of uninsured Southerners are eligible for coverage. This includes 16 percent who are eligible for Medicaid and 25 percent who are eligible for tax credit subsidies for marketplace coverage. However, 17 percent fall into a coverage gap in the Southern states that have not adopted the Medicaid expansion.
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