The wealth and health of states, cont.

In my most recent post at healthinsurance.org, I noted that the five states highlighted by the Kaiser Family Foundation as those with the highest percentages of residents with "declinable pre-existing conditions" under pre-ACA rules were also the five poorest states in the nation as measured by median household income. That is, by these broad measures, the sickest states are the poorest states. (Those with "declinable pre-existing conditions" are those who, according to Kaiser, would likely have been unable to obtain health insurance in the individual market prior to ACA enactment. Kaiser conservatively estimates that 27% of U.S. adults under age 65 have DPCs.)

The correlation between state wealth and health carries pretty well through the fifty states. The chart below plots the percentage of residents in each state with declinable pre-existing conditions (DPC, y-axis) against 2015 median household income, according to the Census Bureau.

Where #the27percent are the 33 percent (with "declinable pre-existing conditions")

The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a report finding that at least 27% of American adults under age 65 have pre-existing conditions that likely would have made it impossible for them to obtain health insurance in the pre-ACA individual market. That's generated a hashtag mainly devoted to testimonials by those with pre-existing conditions (or loved ones who have them ) -- #the27percent.

At healthinsurance.org, I explore a corollary:  the states with the highest concentrations of "declinable pre-existing conditions are also the poorest states in the nation:

Of the six states with the highest “declinable pre-existing conditions”...as of 2015, Mississippi ranks last among the 50 states in median household income, Kentucky 49th, Arkansas 48th, West Virginia 47th, Alabama 46th and Tennessee 40th, according to the Census Bureau.

...and of course, the poorest states are the ones in most dire need of the benefits provided by the ACA. Of the six above, three have accepted the ACA Medicaid expansion -- and cut their uninsurance rates in half. In the other three, over 40% of marketplace enrollees have incomes under 139%, the cutoff for Medicaid eligibility in states that accepted the expansion.

Hope you'll take a look at the related points.