May 5th BBC on Obamacare vs the Republicans

a reply to: Byrd

So I clicked on your links, which in turn, caused me to google other things to compare and contrast somethings, to get a bigger picture.

I live in Washington state, which, like Texas, has no income tax. The state gets their money through sales, excise, and property taxes, and other taxes. However, the state does do more for lower income earners, so it evens out. Taxation here is a lot more flexible, and requires a lot more voter approval than I've seen in other states. I've never lived in Texas, though I visited a couple times. My aunt, Uncle, and Cousin moved there 10 years ago from California, so I visit them. All three are staunch conservatives, strong GOPers who seem to like it there because everyone is so hard right (They live in some podunk town an hour north of Dallas, near the OK border, and have to go to OK a lot to buy booze because their county is dry), except my young cousin. Who is chronically ill, in and out of the hospital racking up bills. They told me about labor laws there, employer/employee relations, healthcare, and life/culture in general. No thanks. I'll stay right where I'm at. I don't care if they were giving away homes and land in Texas for free. You get what you pay for.

If that is the attitude of health professionals, and the health industry, in general, in Texas, no wonder maternal mortality rates are so high. Has the state taken any action to investigate the cause and trend, with the aim of lowering it, or do they even care? Other states seem to have put serious effort into addressing the issue.

Here is an interesting article about the overall trend of maternal mortality in the U.S.:

Medscape

From the article:

The researchers determined that deaths from all violent causes, including motor vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, and substance abuse, occurred at a rate of about 15 per 100,000 live births, substantially higher than deaths associated with the four leading pregnancy-related causes of maternal mortality (hemorrhage, embolic disease, hypertensive disease, and sepsis), which occurred at a rate of about 4.5 per 100,000 live births.

So we have one cause of maternal death cited: violence. I.E. non medical reasons, external factors. Domestic abuse, suicide, homicide, substance abuse. Things that are either in the world of mental health or law enforcement. It would be interesting to look at maternal death rates by state, and compare that state's rates of domestic abuse, plus any laws they have about it, as well as that state's resources devoted to combating it. Look for a correlation. During the most recent data collection period, 2011-2015, Texas maternal death rate doubled to a rate higher than several third world and middle eastern countries. If it is following the same trend as the national one, then what is the reason for the sudden surge in homicides, suicides, and drug overdoses and car accidents involving pregnant women? What changed right before, or during that, period in Texas?

Because if this article is correct, external factors are more at play than health ones in the rates of pregnant women dying. They are either suffering major mental problems and abusing drugs at higher than ever rates, or being murdered at higher than before rates.

That in itself constitutes a health crisis. I mean, I looked at the U.S. MM rates and compared it to other countries. The fact it's apparently safer for mothers to give birth to kids in Libya, Kuwait, and Iran than in the U.S. should be more than just embarrassing.

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
That is certainly another big variable that contributes to the OP. Could it be an immigration issue?? Maybe all this violence is a correlation of illegal immigrants and the lax immigration laws of the previous administration which exposes the general population to unknown predators, criminals, and general reckless behavior??? Certainly something to investigate further.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
That is certainly another big variable that contributes to the OP. Could it be an immigration issue?? Maybe all this violence is a correlation of illegal immigrants and the lax immigration laws of the previous administration which exposes the general population to unknown predators, criminals, and general reckless behavior??? Certainly something to investigate further.

Highly unlikely.

Pew

Texas rates of immigration have not gone up or down. They remain the same.
Illegal immigration, overall, has leveled out and stayed at a stead rate over the years. Texas is also a very Red state with very harsh sentencing laws. Again, highly unlikely. The trend also affects places with decreases in illegal immigrants, even none at all. Non-issue.