JAMA Viewpoint: The Growing Influence of State Governments on Population Health in the United States

Weekly Excess Death Rate (per 100 000) in Selected States, 2021Predicted (weighted) excess deaths from all causes, by week, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the weeks ending January 2, 2021, through December 25, 2021. Population counts for calculating excess death rates were obtained from the CDC WONDER bridged-race population estimates for 2020 (https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D178/D278F621).

Director emeritus of the VCU Center on Society and Health, Dr. Steven Woolf, published a viewpoint in the Journal of the American Medical Association that examined how an individual’s life expectancy in the United States depends on the state in which they live.

Disparities in health across the states are growing, a trend that began in the 1990s. For example, in 1990, life expectancy in New York was lower than in Oklahoma. But the trajectories separated in the 1990s and, by 2016, New York ranked 3rd in life expectancy and Oklahoma ranked 45th. Although these changes in life expectancy may reflect other population shifts, it is likely the explanation is the growing polarization of public policies across the states. To read more, access the full JAMA article here.

You can also read more about the editorial on VCU News website.