- Access to Care Improved Most Where Medicaid Expanded Medscape by Robert Lowes—For low-income Americans, health insurance coverage and access to care have improved more in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) than in states that didn't, according to a new health system "scorecard" released on March 15 by the Commonwealth Fund. The percentage of low-income, working-age adults without insurance decreased 14.1 points on average in Medicaid expansion states from 2013 to 2015 compared with 8.9 points in nonexpansion states.
- Report: Florida Loses Ground in Avoidable Hospital Visits Health News Florida by Daylina Miller—When it comes to keeping people out of the hospital, Florida didn't score so well on new scorecard that pits state health care systems against one another. The Commonwealth Fund report gave Florida a rank of 45 out of 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., when it came to the "Avoiding hospital use and cost" indicator. That's a drop of 13 points between 2012 and 2015. The report's authors attribute this largely to Florida's refusal to expand Medicaid.
- N.J. Tops Many States on Health Care Scorecard NJ Spotlight by Lilo H. Stainton—The Affordable Care Act has led to better healthcare outcomes nationwide and states like New Jersey that chose to embrace the federal law have seen greater improvements than those that did not, according to a national ranking released Thursday. Researchers at the Commonwealth Fund found Garden State residents have better access to healthcare and generally lead healthier lives than citizens of many other states, but patients here are less likely than those elsewhere to avoid re-hospitalization and readmission to nursing homes.