Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Iowa Gets Straight "A's" In Health Care
Private Health Foundation Gives Iowa Good Marks in “Health System Performance”
(Des Moines) In a report issued by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that studies health care issues, Iowa received straight “A’s” across the board on its scorecard. Iowa was the only state in the country to receive straight A’s in each of the 5 categories – Access, Quality, Avoidable Costs, Equity and Healthy Lives.
“Iowans should take pride in knowing that our state offers some of the best health care in the country,” said Governor Chet Culver. “After this past session, I am proud of the fact that we are going to continue to expand access to health care – especially when it comes to insuring Iowa’s kids. I believe Iowa could become the first state in the country to insure every child, and I will continue to work hard to make that happen.”
The report comes as a legislative commission on affordable health care prepares to meet for the first time on June 20th.
The report, titled “Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health Care Performance,” highlighted the fact that better access to health care is associated with better quality. According to the report, “Across states, better access to care and higher rates of insurance are closely associated with better quality. States with the lowest rates of uninsured residents tend to score highest on measures of preventive and chronic disease care, as well as other quality indicators. Four of the five leading states in the access dimension—Massachusetts, Iowa, Rhode Island, and Maine—also rank among the top five states in terms of quality. Moreover, states with low quality rankings tend to have high rates of uninsured. This cross-state pattern points to the importance of affordable access as a first step to ensure that patients obtain essential care and receive care that is well coordinated and patient-centered.”
A link to the report can be found at The Commonwealth Fund web site.