Quality Improvements.

The Commonwealth Fund just released its State Scorecard on Health System Performance.

The scorecard points to substantial opportunities to improve. If all states could reach the level achieved by the top performing states:

•Twenty-nine million more people would have health insurance—cutting the number of uninsured by more than half;

•Nearly 78,000 fewer adults and children would die prematurely every year from conditions that could have been prevented with timely and effective health care;

•Nine million more adults age 50 and older would receive recommended preventive care, and almost 800,000 more children would receive key vaccinations;

•Five billion dollars could be saved annually by avoiding preventable hospital admissions and readmissions for vulnerable elderly and disabled residents.