The map above is from the new health care report released by the Commonwealth Fund. That report ranked all of the states according to the overall quality of health care in the state. To arrive at that ranking, the Commonwealth Fund used five criteria -- access and affordability, prevention and treatment, avoidable hospital use and cost, healthy lives, and equity. The darkest colored states on the map have the worst overall health care, and the lightest colored states have the best overall health care.
There are 12 states ranked in the bottom quartile -- the states with the poorest health care. Those states are:
51. Mississippi
50. Arkansas
49. Oklahoma
48. Louisiana
46. Nevada
46. Alabama
45. Georgia
44. Texas
43. Indiana
42. Kentucky
41. Florida
40. Tennessee
And there are 13 states in the top quartile -- the states with the best health care. Those states are:
1. Minnesota
2. Massachusetts
2. New Hampshire
2. Vermont
5. Hawaii
6. Connecticut
7. Maine
7. Wisconsin
9. Rhode Island
10. Delaware
10. Iowa
12. Colorado
12. South Dakota
Do you see the rather obvious pattern there. It seems that the states with the worst health care are the red states -- the states where the Republicans have the most power. These states consider health care to be a product, that should only be available to those who can pay for it. They are also, with the exception of Kentucky and Arkansas, the states that have refused to expand Medicaid to cover their poorest citizens with health insurance.
And the states on the best health care list are, with the exception of South Dakota, all blue states -- states where the Democrats have the most control. These states generally view health care as a basic right that should be afforded to all their citizens. They are also generally the states that have expanded Medicaid.
If you think I'm blaming elected Republican officials for the poor health care in the states they control, then you are right. I believe their hard-hearted and uncaring lack of leadership in the area of health care has set the tone for health care in those states. Their attitude that the best health care should be reserved for the rich means that not only poor, but also ordinary citizens, will suffer. Leadership matters -- and they don't demonstrate any.
The problem with California is the number of undocumented immigrants. They don't qualify for Medicaid and rarely have private insurance and they cause issues with the public health system due to sheer numbers. IF you are insured in California you have access to some of the best health care around. Unfortunately due to the Feds refusing to cover the costs of Medicaid or Obamacare subsidies for the undocumented out of some misguided notion that this will make the undocumented go home, we get dragged down in the rankings despite the fact that the state is doing everything right that it can do by itself.
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