Prognosis Negative: Or, Texas Ranks Low When It Comes to Kids' Health Care

The Commonwealth Fund today released its rankings of states based on the quality of health care available to children -- and Texas, well, we didn't so well. Using 13 performance indicators of "access, quality, costs, equity, and the potential to lead healthy lives," the report puts Texas at No. 46...

By Robert Wilonsky

May 28, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

The Commonwealth Fund today released its rankings of states based on the quality of health care available to children -- and Texas, well, we didn't so well. Using 13 performance indicators of "access, quality, costs, equity, and the potential to lead healthy lives," the report puts Texas at No. 46 on the list -- ahead of only Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Oklahoma. While Texas does well in the "potential to lead long, healthy lives" category (No. 12), the state's ranking is yanked down by its placement in other categories: access (No. 50), quality (42) and equity (44). (An interactive map summarizes the report's findings.) Says Dr. Edward Schor, vice president of child development and preventive care at the Commonwealth Fund, "Investing in children is truly an investment in the future. It takes leadership at the state level as well as at the federal level." --Robert Wilonsky

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.