5-28-08
The quality of health care your child receives can vary greatly depending on the state in which you live, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund. The private health foundation found great disparities from state to state in a variety of areas, from infant mortality rates to the percentage of kids who see a doctor or dentist every year.

For instance, vaccination rates among children for five recommended vaccines to be given between 19 months and 3 years of age were 94% in Massachusetts. In Nevada, the lowest ranking state, they were only 67%. Only 5% of children go uninsured in Michigan, whereas 20% of kids in Texas have no health insurance. Only 46% of kids visit the doctor at least once a year in Idaho, but 75% of Massachusetts kids do. And infant
mortality rates are two and a half times higher in the District of Columbia than they are in Maine. In terms of costs, Utah has the lowest spending per child at $3,972. The District of Columbia runs the highest at $8,295.

The study is significant because it’s the first to include an array of 13 factors relating to access to medical care, the quality of that care, and the cost for children in each state. Karen Davis, President of The Commonwealth Fund, says that if all states were brought up to par with the top state in every category, an additional 4.6 million kids nationwide would have health insurance, and nearly 11.8 million more would visit the doctor and dentist at least once a year. An additional 800,000 could be current on their vaccinations. She also emphasized the importance of modernizing health care information systems to improve vaccination rates.

Using the 13 measures of children’s care that researchers analyzed, states were ranked from first to last in terms of the overall quality of their health care system. Where does your state rank?

State                              Overall Rank

Alabama…………………………..14

Alaska ……………………………..41

Arizona ……………………………47

Arkansas ………………………….44

California …………………………34

Colorado ………………………….34

Connecticut ………………………14

Delaware ………………………….37

District of Columbia ………….31

Florida …………………………….50

Georgia ……………………………38

Hawaii ………………………………7

Idaho ……………………………….33

Illinois ……………………………..38

Indiana …………………………….22

Iowa ………………………………….1

Kansas …………………………….10

Kentucky …………………………..9

Louisiana …………………………48

Maine ……………………………….3

Maryland ……………………….. 27

Massachusetts ……………………4

Michigan …………………………12

Minnesota ……………………….23

Mississippi ………………………49

Missouri ………………………….28

Montana …………………………..28

Nebraska ………………………….13

Nevada …………………………….45

New Hampshire …………………..5

New Jersey ……………………….42

New Mexico ……………………..40

New York …………………………25

North Carolina …………………..31

North Dakota …………………….21

Ohio …………………………………..6

Oklahoma …………………………51

Oregon ……………………………..43

Pennsylvania …………………….19

Rhode Island ………………………8

South Carolina ………………….36

South Dakota ……………………16

Tennessee …………………………30

Texas ……………………………….46

Utah …………………………………26

Vermont …………………………….2

Virginia ……………………………23

Washington ………………………18

West Virginia ……………………20

Wisconsin …………………………11

Wyoming ………………………….16

The top state, Iowa, attributes its first place ranking to good
coordination among providers and offering a wide range of services, “We focus on coverage to be sure, but also access to
social, emotional and mental health services, dental services and prenatal care,” says Christopher Atchinson, associate dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. Health officials everywhere are hoping that this data can be sued to learn from each other.