In a new study by the Commonwealth Fund, Texas ranked lower than the other 49 states and the District of Columbia for access to health care and affordability for its residents.
About the Study
The New York-based Commonwealth Fund analyzed data in various areas related to health care to rank the states in order from best to worst in its “2019 Scorecard on State Health System Performance.” Metrics included:
- Prevention and treatment
- Use of services
- Health care disparities
- Healthy living behaviors
- System costs
Low Rankings
According to the study, Texas ranked last in health care access. It ranked 49th overall. Texas has an uninsured rate of 24%, compared to 4% in other states. Critics believe that this leads to health care problems, including people skipping the health care they need due to the expense and people not receiving care appropriate for their age and gender. This also causes people to have lower rates of cancer screenings. Due to its proximity to the Mexican border, another concern unique to Texas is the rate of undocumented immigrants who do not have access to health care.
One of the analysts opined that Texas’ low overall score was due to the state not expanding its Medicaid coverage through the ACA. Expansion leads to more individuals being qualified for the Medicaid program and receiving additional services. However, critics claim that this type of expansion leads to rising health care costs in the state, more people dropping their private insurance to secure free or low-cost insurance that is funded by taxpayer money and a higher incident rate of fraud.
Higher Rankings
One of the study’s authors said that Texas performed better in the health outcomes category. This is due to several factors, including having a lower rate of adults who smoked. Additionally, the state scored better in measures that track “depths of despairs,” which include deaths stemming from suicide, drug overdose and alcohol abuse. Texas had one of the lowest rates of mortality associated with the use of drugs.
Additionally, Texas had a ranking of 27 out of 51 on the use of antipsychotic medications rendered to nursing home residents. This method is sometimes used to calm down patients who are considered more difficult, but it is a controversial method in many communities. This ranking is due to the rate of using this method drastically declining over the last several years.
