Comparisons of state scores for these two years indicate that 34 states had positive changes in their overall scores on health, 14 states experienced declines and two did not change. The largest positive increases were in Mississippi, Louisiana, Utah and Oregon, all of which increased by 3.0 points or more.

States with the Greatest Overall Health Score Improvement - 2008 to 2009

                                                        Mississippi                         4.7

                                                        Louisiana                           4.0

                                                        Utah                                   3.6

                                                        Oregon                              3.0

• The principal reasons for the changes in these states are:
• Mississippi: The percentage of children in poverty declined from 32.8 percent to 23.5 percent of persons under age 18 and the rate of preventable hospitalizations also declined from 109.8 to 101.3 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• Louisiana: The violent crime rate decreased by 10 percent from 730 to 656 offenses per 100,000 population and the levels of air pollution declined by 8 percent from 12.3 to 11.3 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter of air. Immunization coverage increased by 7 percent from 77.7 percent to 83.0 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations.
• Utah: The percentage of children in poverty declined from 12.6 percent to 8.8 percent of persons under age 18, the rate of preventable hospitalizations also declined from 46.8 to 43.5 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees, and the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease decreased from 243.2 to 230.8 deaths per 100,000 population.
• Oregon: Air pollution declined by 5 percent from 8.5 to 8.1 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter of air, the rate of preventable hospitalizations also declined from 51.2 to 46.6 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees, and the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease decreased from 265.1 to 254.6 deaths per 100,000 population.

No state declined by 3 points or more in the last year.

The comparisons of scores and rankings between 2008 and 2009 are shown below.