Health Care Costs and Performance at a Glance in West Virginia

Healthcare costs in West Virginia are slightly below the national average, but so is overall quality and performance. A single premium employer plan costs an employee an average of $656 compared to the national average of $723, with an employer contribution of $3,472 compared to the national average of $3,268. Employees pay less than the national average for family premiums (18% compared to 24% of the total cost) with employers contributing more (82% compared with the national average of 76%). The state spends a total of approximately 10.7 billion per year (see Table 1 for a basic breakdown with comparison).

Table 1

	United States	West Virginia
Hospital Care	36.50%	40.20%
Physician and Other Professional Services	28.80%	25.70%
Drugs and Other Medical Nondurables	14.30%	16.10%
Nursing Home Care	7.40%	6.70%
Dental Services	5.20%	3.30%
Home Health Care	2.80%	1.90%
Medical Durables	1.50%	1.20%
Other Personal Health Care	3.40%	4.90%
Total	100.00%	100.00%

Performance statistics from the U.S. Department of Health shows overall performance to be below average (see Table 2 for a basic breakdown).

Table 2

Health Care Measures	Compared with National Average	Direction
Preventive Care	Below average	Improved
Acute Care	Below average	Worsened
Chronic Care	Below average	Improved
Hospital Care	Above average	Improved
Ambulatory Care	Below average	Worsened
Nursing Home Care	Below average	Unchanged
Home Health Care	Average	Unchanged
Cancer Care	Below average	Worsened
Diabetes Care	Below average	Worsened
Heart Disease Care	Below average	Worsened
Maternal and Child Health Care	Below average	Improved
Respiratory Diseases Care	Below average	Improved

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Sources: The Kaiser Family Foundation, statehealthfacts.org.

Data Source: Health Expenditure Data, Health Expenditures by State of Residence, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, released September 2007;

_{Available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData}

_{Additional data was provided from the U.S.}