Mental health providers offer essential care

to adults and children who have a mental or behavioral disorder by offering services such as assessment, diagnosis, treatment, medication and therapeutic interventions according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The National Institutes of Mental Health

reported that 17.9% of Americans experienced some form of mental illness (not including substance abuse disorders) in 2016, but only 43.1%

of adults with any mental illness and 64.8% with a serious mental illness reported receiving treatment in the past year.

Health insurance is critical in helping people receive the preventive and medical care they need to achieve and maintain good health. Compared with insured adults, uninsured adults have more health disadvantages, including worse health outcomes

and higher rates of mortality and premature death

. The uninsured also have inadequate access to quality care and preventive services

, leading to expensive medical bills due to undiagnosed or untreated chronic conditions

and more emergency room visits

.

A flu vaccine is the best protection

against seasonal influenza viruses, which can pose a serious threat to health, according to the CDC. Each year in the United States, millions of people get the flu

, and thousands of people die from it. The vaccine can prevent

people from coming down with the flu and can help lessen the degree to which people are sick if they do get it.

• 27% among males (30.8% to 39.0%) and 30% among females (35.8% to 46.6%).
• 41% among ages 18-44 (23.3% to 32.8%), 27% among ages 45-64 (33.9% to 42.9%) and 18% among ages 65 and older (53.9% to 63.7%).
• 36% among adults who identify their race as other (27.4% to 37.4%), 35% among multiracial adults (28.9% to 38.9%), 34% among Hispanic (25.2% to 33.7%), 32% among Black (27.7% to 36.7%), 29% among American Indian/Alaska Native (28.6% to 36.8%), 28% among white (36.3% to 46.6%) and 13% among Asian (38.6% to 43.5%) adults.
• 28% among adults ages 25 and older who are high school graduates (30.5% to 38.9%) and those with some college (33.6% to 42.9%), 27% among those who are college graduates (42.2% to 53.5%) and 18% among those with less than a high school education (30.4% to 35.9%).

• Adults ages 65 and older than younger adults; the prevalence is higher among adults ages 45-64 than those ages 18-44.
• Adults ages 25 and older who are college graduates compared with adults with lower educational levels. Adults with less than a high school education had the lowest prevalence; prevalence increased with each increase in education level.
• White adults compared with all other race and ethnicity groups. Hispanic adults had the lowest prevalence, lower than Black, multiracial, Asian and white adults.
• Adults ages 25 and older with a household income of $75,000 or more compared with adults with lower household incomes; prevalence increased with each increase in income level.
• Females than males.

The HPV vaccine is the first vaccine ever developed to prevent cancer. Every year, an estimated 19,000 cases

of HPV-associated cancer among females and 13,100 cases

of HPV-associated cancer among males could be prevented through vaccination. HPV infections can cause different types of cancer as well as genital warts. Most cases

of cervical cancer; cancers of the anus, throat, vagina and vulva; and cases of genital warts

are associated with HPV infections.

Preventable hospitalizations declined in the past year.

Some hospital admissions related to chronic conditions or acute illnesses can be prevented

through adequate management and treatment in outpatient settings. The number of preventable hospitalizations reflects overuse of the hospital as a primary source of care and the efficiency

and quality

of primary care

for outpatient services. Preventable hospitalizations place financial burdens

on patients, insurance providers and hospitals. In 2006, $30.8 billion

in hospital costs were attributed to preventable hospitalizations.