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Kansas, Missouri Improve On Health Measures, But Still In Bottom Half Of Ranking

Commonwealth Fund

New health rankings from the Commonwealth Fund rank Kansas and Missouri in the bottom half of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, but both states showed improvements.

The rankings are based on 42 health measures, including numbers of uninsured, preventable deaths, infant mortality, childhood vaccinations and hospital readmissions. Kansas tied for 28th in the overall rankings and Missouri ranked 36th.

Both states got middling scores when it came to residents without health insurance, mainly because neither state has opted to expand Medicaid.

Not surprisingly, Massachusetts, whose 2006 health care reform law was the model for Obamacare, had the fewest number of uninsured.

If Kansas performed like Massachusetts, the Commonwealth Fund estimates 171,000 more adults would be covered and receive health care when needed. If Missouri performed at Massachusetts’ level, the fund estimates 386,000 more adults would be covered.

You can see the country's overall rankings below:

Credit: Commonwealth Fund

Dan Margolies is editor in charge of health news at KCUR, the public radio station in Kansas City. Dan joined KCUR in April 2014. In a long and varied journalism career, he has worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, The Kansas City Star and Reuters. In a previous life, he was a lawyer. He has also worked as a media insurance underwriter and project development director for a video production firm.