The Commonwealth Fund’s 2024 Scorecard on State Health System Performance provides a stark post-crisis picture of health care access, quality and outcomes for women across the United States.
“We have gone backwards in terms of life expectancy and preventable death, and women’s health, mental health, and the problem of drug use are crying out as critical issues that need urgent attention,” the President of the Fund Commonwealth Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, said during a July webinar. to reveal the results.
The report examines 58 health care indicators, highlighting critical gaps in child care, women’s health and mental health services.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont rank high in health care performance, while Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Mississippi rank low.
As journalists, we can use scorecard data to provide a comprehensive review of government performance on health care indicators, and to highlight disparities in health care performance. across countries.
“Comparing countries on how well their health systems support people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and income levels is critical to understanding what works and what doesn’t in health care. American beauty,” Sara R. Collins, Commonwealth Fund Senior. The expert said during the webinar.
Creating visual aids such as charts and maps to show differences can be better ways to show where a country stands. It’s one thing to list countries with the highest and lowest levels of health for women, but showing a map helps the audience deal with trends.
Here is one of the Commonwealth Fund, where we see that most of the best performing countries are located in the North East, while the lowest performing countries are in the South. This map also helps us visualize the differences between two neighboring countries.
It’s also up to journalists to go beyond the numbers by sharing stories that point to disparities, or ongoing initiatives that could provide solutions.
Important findings
Maternal health disparities. The maternal mortality rate for American Indian and Alaska Native women has increased by nearly 70 deaths per 100,000 births between 2019 and 2021, much higher than other ethnic and racial groups. Consider examining the systemic issues that contribute to these disparities and possible policy solutions.
Access to mental health care. Nationally, 60% of 12- to 17-year-olds who had a major depressive episode did not get the treatment they needed, and South Carolina has the rate the highest is about 80%. What the report does not answer is why? The complexity of the answer to that question can provide information that can be reported. But there are also initiatives that help to solve this problem. In July, I reported on the opening of acute care children’s mental health centers that are popping up across the country.
Medical debt. “The cost of medical bills is particularly high in the South; In West Virginia, nearly a quarter of residents struggle to pay medical bills,” the report states. Consider reporting on high rates of medical debt including the struggling population and its wider impact on the economy.
Access to reproductive health. Research the extent to which access to health services is restricted in different countries; there may be efforts underway in countries with restrictions to improve access. “Our broken reproductive health system will make it even harder to close these widening gaps, especially for women of color and low-income women in restrictive states. access to reproductive care,” Dr. Laurie C. Zephyrin, Commonwealth Deputy Senior Vice President for Advancing Health Equity said during the webinar.
The scorecard also revealed significant differences in access to antenatal care. In Vermont, only 11% of women giving birth in 2021 did not receive prenatal care during the first trimester, compared to 29% in Texas and Florida.
To address these issues, the report recommends several policy strategies including lowering barriers to addiction treatment and investing in primary care, improving coverage and access to care; and, expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage and supporting comprehensive child care policies.
Other resources
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