Dropping from 84.1 since October 2008, the Basic Access Index remains at 82.1. The percentage of Americans with health insurance recorded its lowest level to date, at just 82.7 percent. For the second month in a row, the number of Americans who had easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables declined. This percentage remains at 90.3, two points from the 92.1 measured one year ago—translating to fewer than four million fewer Americans with easy access to fruits and vegetables.
Although the Physical Health and Healthy Behavior sub-indices improved due to seasonal effects with scores of 76.9 and 64.0, respectively, the overall stagnation resulted from a decline in Life Evaluation to 48.4. This decline was mostly due to the percentage of Americans thriving, which dropped four full points to 52.1 from March’s score of 56.5.
Other key findings:
- Healthy behaviors saw an increase of two points in the number of Americans who exercised 30 minutes for at least three days a week. The number of Americans smoking came in at the typical 20.6 percent in April.
- The Work Environment Index stayed flat and low at 47.0, still not rebounding to pre-recession numbers above 50.0 in 2008.
- The Emotional Health Index remains at 78.8, while those who feel stress dropped to 58.3, showing a three-month decline.
