because of cost in 2013 and 2014,
A Narrative Essay.
The Commonwealth Fund, as stated in their webpage (2016), is a private institution that seeks to improve the current health care for every American citizen, especially those in vulnerable situations (low-income people and minorities, to name a few). This is carried out by supporting and performing constant research on issues related to health care.
Every year, the Commonwealth Fund releases its Scorecard on State Health System Performance, which focuses on identifying opportunities of improvement within their health system. Below, a bar diagram compares adults who went without health care when they needed, duo to cost-related issues in the most critical states, in this case District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi and North Dakota.
Figure 1. Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on Health System Performance, 2015
Side by side, each state shows its value for the measure in both 2014 and 2013. White bars represent the rates on 2013 on each state, compared to their left to the newer data next year. First, it’s important to notice how the adults either abstained less from going to the doctor or had the same avoidance rate in 2014, contrasting it to 2013. Specifically, the states of Florida, Illinois and Mississippi displayed an improvement in their Health Care system, by plunging their avoidance rate between 2 and 3%; while District of Columbia and North Dakota scored the same rate.
Taking notice of the increase or decrease of the rates in time is highly beneficial when interpreting the statistical information, but it’s also important to contrast the states to find which ones are more vulnerable. In this regard, despite showing one of the largest decreases in avoidance rates in 2014, Mississippi still displays the highest rate among other states. Moreover, although North Dakota didn’t see a noticeable improvement through the year, it’s also worth noting that its avoidance rate is the lowest in the sample.
Overall, although almost one in five adults didn’t attend the doctor for cost-related concerns, the general avoidance rate plunged 2%. Nonetheless, the levels of disparity are concerning, as the lowest ranking state is 12 points below the highest. As the Commonwealth Fund report on this year’s scorecard suggests, these results may present themselves as a reflection in differences within states policies and even funding of health care related programs.
References
Aiming Higher: Results from a Scorecard on State Health System Performance, 2014. (n.d.). In Commonwealth Fund. New York, NY. Retrieved August 06, 2016 from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/apr/2014-state-scorecard
