Our Health Policy Matters

After a year in second place, Massachusetts is once again the best state for your health in the 2013 Our Health Policy Matters rankings . In first place in 2011, Massachusetts dropped to second last year behind Connecticut.  It edged out Connecticut this year based on the rankings of all fifty states in a combination of seven national source rankings and/or spending categories. Here are the top ten states, with the change from last year’s ranking in parentheses. 1. Massachusetts (+1).   Among the seven components of the rankings, Massachusetts was only 4 th in the Healthy State rankings, and 11 th in the Kids Count health rankings.   But it earns its top rank overall because of consistently high placements in five other health care rankings. 2. Connecticut (-1).   Last year’s winner, Connecticut ranks 2 nd overall in the Kids Count health rankings and in the percentage of residents with employer-based private insurance.   But it is only in ...

After a year in second place, Massachusetts is once again the best state for your health in the 2013 Our Health Policy Matters rankings . In first place in 2011, Massachusetts dropped to second last year behind Connecticut.  It edged out Connecticut this year based on the rankings of all fifty states in a combination of seven national source rankings and/or spending categories. Here are the top ten states, with the change from last year’s ranking in parentheses. 1. Massachusetts (+1).   Among the seven components of the rankings, Massachusetts was only 4 th in the Healthy State rankings, and 11 th in the Kids Count health rankings.   But it earns its top rank overall because of consistently high placements in five other health care rankings. 2. Connecticut (-1).   Last year’s winner, Connecticut ranks 2 nd overall in the Kids Count health rankings and in the percentage of residents with employer-based private insurance.   But it is only in ...

The reasons that 25 states chose not to participate in creating a new health exchange aren’t exactly the ones they’ve been claiming – that Obamacare is too complicated, too anti-consumer, or too politically unpopular.  The truth is that they have never done a very good job of protecting the health and well-being of their people – especially their children – and they were not ready to start now. Now that all fifty states have decided whether or not they will at least participate in running their own health insurance exchanges as allowed by the Affordable Care Act (you can see the updated information about what each state decided on my state rankings page ), a clear picture is emerging of what distinguished the states choosing to participate from those refusing to do so. On the whole, when compared to one another, the 25 states that have chosen to participate in running their exchanges (17 by themselves, 8 in partnership with the federal government)do a much better jo...

The reasons that 25 states chose not to participate in creating a new health exchange aren’t exactly the ones they’ve been claiming – that Obamacare is too complicated, too anti-consumer, or too politically unpopular.  The truth is that they have never done a very good job of protecting the health and well-being of their people – especially their children – and they were not ready to start now. Now that all fifty states have decided whether or not they will at least participate in running their own health insurance exchanges as allowed by the Affordable Care Act (you can see the updated information about what each state decided on my state rankings page ), a clear picture is emerging of what distinguished the states choosing to participate from those refusing to do so. On the whole, when compared to one another, the 25 states that have chosen to participate in running their exchanges (17 by themselves, 8 in partnership with the federal government)do a much better jo...

It costs an average of $6,000 per person per year in federal, state, and local taxes to cover the government’s share of our national health care bill. The three levels of government pay about 71%, or roughly $1.8 trillion, of our nation’s annual health expenditures.  It is no wonder that most rational people want policymakers to do more to bring these costs under control. Policy leaders talk all the time about controlling health care expenditures.   This would help. But if we actually want to reduce costs significantly, we have to invest in prevention and public health.  This is a position I’ve pushed in the past.  All it takes to understand why is to recognize that prevention and public health have been responsible for half of our increased life expectancy during the past century while absorbing less than 5% of our overall health spending. This is old health policy news.  So why aren’t policymakers doing more in prevention? The ans...

It costs an average of $6,000 per person per year in federal, state, and local taxes to cover the government’s share of our national health care bill. The three levels of government pay about 71%, or roughly $1.8 trillion, of our nation’s annual health expenditures.  It is no wonder that most rational people want policymakers to do more to bring these costs under control. Policy leaders talk all the time about controlling health care expenditures.   This would help. But if we actually want to reduce costs significantly, we have to invest in prevention and public health.  This is a position I’ve pushed in the past.  All it takes to understand why is to recognize that prevention and public health have been responsible for half of our increased life expectancy during the past century while absorbing less than 5% of our overall health spending. This is old health policy news.  So why aren’t policymakers doing more in prevention? The ans...

Some states do a much worse job than others of keeping their residents healthy and providing for high-quality, affordable health care when their residents need it.  People usually live shorter, less healthy lives in these states than they might if they lived elsewhere. In my last column, I described a new States for Your Health ranking, and examined the states that finished near the top. This week, I want to look first at why Florida, ranked first in one of the seven indicators – per capita Medicare spending on non-institution-based services – only finished 30 th overall. Florida’s doesn’t invest enough in public health and prevention.  It is 36 th among the states in the 2011 Kids Count rankings, and 37 th in the 2011 Healthy State rankings.  Children in poor environments for their health are more likely to develop both physical and mental illnesses as they age.  Obesity, cancers, heart diseases, and mental illnesses are all expensive, and can cu...

Some states do a much worse job than others of keeping their residents healthy and providing for high-quality, affordable health care when their residents need it.  People usually live shorter, less healthy lives in these states than they might if they lived elsewhere. In my last column, I described a new States for Your Health ranking, and examined the states that finished near the top. This week, I want to look first at why Florida, ranked first in one of the seven indicators – per capita Medicare spending on non-institution-based services – only finished 30 th overall. Florida’s doesn’t invest enough in public health and prevention.  It is 36 th among the states in the 2011 Kids Count rankings, and 37 th in the 2011 Healthy State rankings.  Children in poor environments for their health are more likely to develop both physical and mental illnesses as they age.  Obesity, cancers, heart diseases, and mental illnesses are all expensive, and can cu...

When the Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act next year, it will do so against the backdrop of both a national sentiment for government to do more in the area of health and significant inequalities in access to health and health care based solely on the states in which people live.   A new poll released last week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health found that 52% of Americans want government to put more resources into health.   Only 41% gave high grades to our health care system, and only 33% gave our public health system high grades. We would all like a more effective health and health care system.  But a better national delivery system would make a much bigger difference in some states than in others. This week, Our Health Policy Matters unveils a new ranking of the states that reflects which states invest most effectively in our health and health care.  It was cr...