A healthy correlation with taxes

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SCOTT JAGOW: In this country, states with the lowest taxes have the biggest problems with children’s health care. That comes from a new report by a child advocacy group. Eric Niiler has more.

ERIC NIILER: Children in low-tax states are more likely to suffer from insufficient prenatal care, early death, child abuse and imprisonment than those living in states that collect more taxes.

Author and advocate Michael Petit runs the nonprofit group Every Child Matters. He looked at federal health and income statistics and says states with higher taxes spend more money on social programs.

MICHAEL PETIT: The hidden price tags of tax cuts are reduced child health and in all too many cases, increased risk of premature mortality.

New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts rank at the top of Petit’s list of healthiest states for kids. The bottom includes Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico.

Petit and his group have called for a $500 billion federal program to cover all of the country’s uninsured children.

In Washington, I’m Eric Niiler for Marketplace.