from 41 to 39. WV and GA move out of the last quartile. Minnesota moved up the most to fourth.

If all states could match benchmarks set by the top-performing state, the cumulative effect would mean:

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* Nearly 78,000 fewer adults and children would die prematurely (before age 75) each year from conditions amenable to health care.
* The number of people without health coverage would be more than halved, with 29 million more people insured.
* Nine million more adults (age 50 and older) would receive all recommended preventive care, and almost 800,000 more young children would receive key vaccinations on time.
* Four million more diabetic patients across the nation would receive basic services to help avoid complications such as blindness, kidney failure, or limb amputation.
* At least $5 billion would be saved from avoiding preventable hospitalizations and readmissions for chronically ill or frail elderly nursing home patients.
* Savings of $20 billion to $37 billion per year would be possible if annual per-person costs for Medicare in higher-cost states fell to the median state rate or to the average rate achieved in the top quartile of states.

Geographic variations remain striking, repeating the same general patterns seen in the first State Scorecard. No state ranked in the top quartile across all performance indicators.

across states there is no systematic relationship between scorecard indicators of the cost and quality of care across states. Some states in the Upper Midwest (e.g., Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) achieve high quality at lower costs. Although these states are exceptions to the rule, they provide examples for other states to follow in pursuit of both goals.

If you're short on time today you can skip to the end of the summary and then call that Congressman, but I would recommend that health care professionals, policymakers or those seeking statewide votes to spend a few days digging through reports from The Commonwealth Fund, whose role "has been to establish a base of scientific evidence on what works, mobilize talented people to transform health care organizations, and collaborate with organizations that share its concerns."
Seven successful state profiles