Second only to New Hampshire among states, Connecticut
residents are avoiding premature deaths preventable with better health care. However,
no Connecticut community ranked in the top 10% across health indicators in the Commonwealth
Fund’s 2016
Local Health System Scorecard. While we do
very well in Healthy Lives measures, we have a great deal of work to do in
Avoidable Hospital use. Medicare readmission rates are high in all three noted
hospital referral regions – Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. Hartford and
New Haven area residents also face higher rates of avoidable ED and hospital
admissions. Health care costs per person are among the highest in the nation,
especially for employer-sponsored coverage. There is wide variation within
states across the report’s 36 health care indicators of quality, access,
avoidable hospital use, costs and outcomes. Overall the report found almost all
localities in the US are making progress improving health but very slowly. New
policies are making a difference including Affordable Care Act coverage
expansions, Medicare’s hospital readmission and quality reporting initiatives,
and FDA regulations and protections. Generally low-income areas perform more
poorly but the report includes important lessons. Investments in public health
are making a difference including school-based care, social service
collaborations, workforce training, data, and connecting people to coverage and
medical homes.
