Illinois’ healthcare system ranked 23rd in the nation, according to a scorecard released by the Commonwealth Fund Thursday. 

The fund ranks all states and the District of Columbia annually on how well their healthcare systems perform. This year, Massachusetts led the nation, while Mississippi was at the bottom. [Health News Illinois] 

Illinois outperformed Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Missouri, but was behind Iowa and Wisconsin. 

“Looking across states and comparing their healthcare systems is an important way of telling us what is and what isn't working in American healthcare,” Dr. Joseph Betancourt, president of the fund, told reporters. 

Overall, Illinois ranked:

·    14th for reproductive and women’s health.

·    19th for access and affordability.

·    25th for prevention and treatment.

·    46th for avoidable hospital use and cost.

·    16th for healthy lives.

·    33rd for income disparity.

·    17th for racial and ethnic health equity.

Illinois performed well compared to others by having lower percentages of women between 18 and 44 without regular checkups, women with recent live births reporting no postpartum checkup visits and teens with a major depressive episode not receiving mental healthcare. 

Its worst performances were for a higher percentage of nursing home residents with antipsychotic medication, a lower percentage of adults with age- and gender-appropriate cancer screenings and a higher hospital readmission rate for recently discharged seniors. 

Illinois improved the most in recent years for potential avoidable emergency department visits for seniors, preventable hospitals for adults between 18 and 64 and preventable hospitalizations for seniors.

However, the state worsened the most for measures related to premature deaths from preventable causes, children who did not receive needed mental healthcare and adults with age-appropriate vaccines. 

Overall, all states saw large jumps in avoidable deaths between 2019 and 2021, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For the first time, the scorecard ranked states’ healthcare systems on health outcomes and access to care for women, mothers and infants. Data were primarily collected in 2021, prior to the Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

Meanwhile, health insurance coverage rates reached record highs in 2021, thanks to temporary policies that kept people on Medicaid, decisions by several states to expand the program, enhanced subsidies available for Affordable Care Act plans and ACA outreach. 

The gains through Medicaid’s continuous coverage requirement “may prove ephemeral” since it ended earlier this year and states are now facing the "complicated and complex task" of redetermining eligibility, the report noted. 

The study offers a bevy of recommendations to reduce the number of preventable deaths, like lowering insurance and administrative barriers for addiction treatment, expanding the primary care workforce and integrating behavioral healthcare with primary and pediatric care.

Lawmakers could create a federal insurance option for those with low income in states that have not expanded Medicaid and make temporary enhanced ACA subsidies permanent to help boost accessible and affordable healthcare coverage.

Extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to a year, advancing policies that support access to reproductive care, funding community-based organizations focused on maternal health, and diversifying and growing the maternal health workforce could help improve women’s healthcare. 

“Our findings are important, urgent and deserve our nation's full attention,” Betancourt said.

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