Michigan Healthcare

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Michigan's Upper Peninsula has high heart attack rates, CDC says

Michigan Public | By Stateside Staff

Published May 6, 2014 at 4:01 PM EDT

Michigan Health Insurance Program is offering more options to people with pre-existing conditions.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been cited as having high heart attack rates.

There's some pretty unsettling data that has come out about the health of the people who call the Upper Peninsula home.

The Centers for Disease Control numbers say heart attack rates for the entire western and eastern UP for 2008-2010 are right up there at the highest level for the top five categories the CDC tracks.

What does the high rate of heart attack and heart disease say about health care and health habits in the UP? And what can bring those high rates down?

Dr. Teresa Frankovich, medical director for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, joined us.

Listen to the full interview above.