Diabetes in Oregon
2010 Findings from Making the Grade on Women’s Health:
A National and State-by-State Report Card
Grade: Failing
Rank: 15th
The fifth edition of Making the Grade on Women’s Health: A National and
State-by-State Report Card uses the Healthy People 2010 as a benchmark to
rank and grade each state on key health indicators. The current Report Card
finds that all states except Alaska receive either unsatisfactory or failing
grades on the status indicators for diabetes. The Healthy People 2020 goal of
reducing the overall rate of clinically diagnosed diabetes to no more than
7.2 overall cases per 1,000 people aged 18-84. At the time of publication,
Oregon ranked 15th with 72 cases per 1,000 people diagnosed with diabetes.
Oregon has room for improvement when it comes to diabetes.

An alarming 10.2% of all women ages 20 and older in the United States
have diabetes. In Oregon, that number is only slightly better at 7.2%.
Among them are also notable racial disparities—for instance, 16.8% of
American Indian/Alaskan Native women and 11.5% of Hispanic women have
been diagnosed with diabetes compared with 5.8% of White women.

Oregon statistics are slightly lower than the U.S. average, but have
worsened since 2007, increasing in occurrence from 6.5% to 7.2%.
Obesity has become the third leading cause of preventable death and has been
directly linked to increased risk of developing serious medical conditions,
including diabetes.

Oregon is a very active state, ranking 3rd for this indicator, and has a
lower obesity rate than most other states at 23.5%. There is still room
to improve to reduce the percentage to the Report Card benchmark goal
of 15%.

While Oregon receives a “Satisfactory” grade for its rates of leisuretime physical activity, it receives a “Failing” grade for its rate of
nutrition-based indicator. Only 31% of women in Oregon eat five fruits
and vegetables per day, falling below the 50% goal.
The Affordable Care Act impacts patient access to “essential health
benefits”.

Beginning in 2014, new health plans sold to individuals and small
businesses will be required to cover a package of “essential health
benefits”. The law lists ten broad categories of services that will be
among the essential benefits—including prescription drugs, wellness
care, and chronic disease management services—but the package will be
further defined in the coming year by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services. It is not yet clear whether diabetes supplies and education
will be a required service.

Some states require private insurance plans to cover diabetes supplies
and education as part of general coverage. While Oregon earns a “meets
policy” on this indicator, state coverage is only mandated for group
health insurance policies and is not required for individual policies.
Making the Grade on Women’s Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card is a
project of the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health and Science University,
which was developed to improve women’s health by encouraging policy change at both
the national and state levels. It examines nearly 100 different health status and
health policy indicators to provide the most comprehensive assessment of women’s
health to date.
For more information, see the complete 2010 Health Report Card findings on or after
December 7, 2010 at: http://hrc.nwlc.org or contact p4women@pdx.edu