Alabama's infant death rate for the 12 months ending December 2000—9.4 per 1,000 live births—was one of the highest in the US. The abortion rate stood at 14 per 1,000 women in 1999.
The state's overall death rate in 2000—1,027.0 deaths per 100,000 population—included a death rate from heart disease of 305.5 per 100,000, compared to the national rate of 258.2. Alabama also ranked above the national rate in death rates from cancer, cerebrovascular diseases, accidents, traffic fatalities, and suicide. Smoking prevalence was 25.3% of adults age 18 and older in 2000. The rate of death from lung disease for 2000 was 72.5 per 100,000 people. The mortality rate from HIV infection was 4.6 per 100,000 population, lower than the national average of 5.3 per 100,000 population for 2000. There had been 6,706 documented AIDS cases reported through 2001.
Alabama had 107 community hospitals in 2001; there were 16,627 beds and 684,923 admissions. Hospital personnel included 17,216 registered nurses. Alabama had 218 physicians per 100,000 population in 2000. The average per capita expense to hospitals in the state for care in 2001 was $1,269. Federal government grants to cover the Medicare and Medicaid services in 2001 totaled $2.1 billion; 695,195 enrollees received Medicare benefits that year. At least 13.1% of Alabama's adult population was uninsured in 2002.