Louisiana's infant mortality rate in 2000 was 9.2 per 1,000 live births, considerably higher than the national rate of 6.9. Major causes of infant deaths include birth trauma, disorders relating to abnormal gestation, intrauterine hypoxia, and birth asphyxia. Other leading causes of infant death were congenital anomalies and pneumonia. In 1999, 12,008 legal abortions were performed in Louisiana, averaging 12 per 1,000 women.
Like the infant mortality rate, the overall death rate, 940.3 per 100,000 population, was significantly higher than the national rate of 873.1. Death rates from heart disease (265.8 per 100,000), malignant neoplasms (214.9 per 100,000), accidents and adverse effects (45.9 per 100,000), and motor vehicle accidents (23.2 per 100,000) for the entire population of Louisiana were also above national rates. Of the population age 18 and older, 24.1% were classified as smokers in 2000. The rate of HIV-related deaths stood at 8.8 per 100,000 population, below the national average of 5.3 in 2000. There were 13,475 AIDS cases reported through 2001.
Louisiana's 125 community hospitals had 682,586 admissions and 17,975 beds in 2001. There were 17,584 full-time registered nurses and 3,730 full-time licensed practical nurses in 2001 and 268 physicians per 100,000 population in 2000. The average expense of a community hospital for care was $1,395.60 per inpatient day in 2001.
Federal government grants to cover the Medicare and Medicaid services in 2001 totaled $3.0 billion; 605,395 enrollees received Medicare benefits that year. At least 19.3% of the population was uninsured in 2002.