U.S. Women's Health Care Still Falls Sho...(in all states an increase in obesity and...),Health

The report, Making the Grade for Women's Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card, is the fourth in a series of triennial report cards analyzing benchmarks of women's health in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 27 benchmarks were based on goals set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2010 agenda.

Obesity was the only indicator that worsened in every state since 2004.

"The implications for that are enormous," Dr. Michelle Berlin, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health and Science University, said at the teleconference. "Rates of diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases are on the rise across the U.S. and obesity is a clear link to that."

The report also looked at whether states have adopted 63 policies considered important for women's health. Only two policy goals were met by all states.

"Those were Medicaid coverage for breast and cervical cancer treatment and participation in the Food Stamp Nutrition and Education program," Waxman said.

Nine states met a majority (32 or more) of the policy goals, up from three in 2004. California, New York and Rhode Island were at the top of the list, while Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota were at the bottom.

There was some progress in adopting policies for screenings for sickness. Twenty states (up from 17 in 2004) now require insurers to cover colorectal cancer screenings. And 11 states (up from eight in 2004) require coverage for osteoporosis screening. On the other hand, only 20 states (down from 21 in 2004) require insurers to cover annual mammograms for women over 40.

"There's been minimal progress on implementing some of these policies and, unfortunately, it is piecemeal and inconsistent," Waxman said.