Table 1 Comparisons of Counties with and without Dedicated Local Public Health Tax Levy

Without a tax (n = 382)

t-value

Demographic/socioeconomic

Mean total population

65,670

0.77

Percent net migration (net migrants/total population)

0.71

-1.14

Population aged >65 years (%)

14.25

-1.13

Population aged <18 years (%)

24.34

2.21

Non-whites of total population (%)

22.22

9.83

Per capita Income ($)

23,485

-1.32

Household income ($)

33,026

-3.71

Poverty (%)

17.88

3.68

Percent rurality (rural population/total population) ^§

66.71

1.67

Medicaid eligible (%)

27.7

5.87

Physicians (total licensed MD or DO/1,000 total population)

1.18

0.99

Unemployment (%)

6.53

1.37

Uninsured^§ (%)

15.57

5.69

Total population mortality (per 100,000 population)

Age-adjusted mortality

972.83

3.88

Years of potential life lost (before age 75)

9,902.10

7.13

Major disease mortality (age-adjusted/100,000 population)

Heart disease

276.98

4.21

Cardiovascular disease (CVD)

363.75

5.91

Cerebrovascular disease (Stroke)

63.01

5.76

Chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD)

51.29

-1.22

Diabetes

29.42

0.36

Pneumonia/influenza

27.45

2.05

Cancer mortality and incidence (age-adjusted/100,000 population)

All types of cancer mortality

214.29

-1.95

Lung and bronchus cancer mortality

68.61

-1.50

All types of cancer incidence

441.2

-10.23

Lung and bronchus cancer incidence

80.18

-6.37

Colorectal cancer incidence

53.4

-6.14

Female breast cancer incidence

108.04

-5.28

Prostate cancer incidence

141.04

-0.28

Trauma/accidents (age-adjusted/100,000 population)

Unintentional injury mortality

60.43

1.07