“F” for FloridaBy: Paul Gionfriddo
Date: October 16, 2009
The Commonwealth Fund released a new state health care scorecard last week, updating its 2007 report. Florida finished near the bottom, 44th overall.
We were 42nd in access, 36th in prevention and treatment, 35th in avoidable hospital use and costs, 38th in gaps between more privileged and less privileged residents, and 26th in healthy lives.
Our strongest areas? We weren’t in the top ten in any of the 35 indicators, but were 11th in percent of residents with home health care needing a hospitalization, 11th in early childhood immunization rates, 13th best in deaths from colorectal and breast cancer, respectively. In three of those four areas, though, our ranking slipped in the last two years. Our biggest gain was in childhood immunization, where we jumped from 31st to 11th place – just in time for the State Legislature to start debating making immunizations optional.
We’re near the bottom in a number of areas, but at the bottom in several areas – we were 50th in percent of uninsured children, 48th in percent of uninsured adults, 47th in percent of children who received needed mental health care, and 47th in Medicare reimbursement per enrollee.
We did improve in 15 of the 35 areas measured, and worsened in only 6, so we are making progress.
The top quartile states are Hawaii and states clustered in two areas – the six New England states and six upper Midwestern states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin). What these 13 states historically have in common is strong public health and health care policy leadership that works across political aisles.
Paul Gionfriddo, President’s Blog, 10/16/09
*note, what he does not say, is Florida also dropped into the bottom ten of states that take action against dangerous and public threat to safety Physicians. In short, they do not protect the Citizens. So we have the Southern States often gaining the greatest amount of Federal Tax dollars, taken by the scrupulous, pocketed by special interest groups, unchecked by the State and if we took them into court, we could by estimates save the State hundreds of millions of dollars by enforcing quality health care. Welcome to Florida!
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