NEWS
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Medicaid Expansion Funds Could Help Raise the Quality of Wisconsin’s Healthcare – and Legislature BY MICHAEL MUCKIAN
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f your physician graduated from medical school with a C average, you might not want him or her to treat you. The good news is that such a low score would never happen. Medical schools, as a rule, require at least a 3.5 (or B+/A-) average for students to graduate into the residency phase of their training. Only the very best practitioners proceed and ultimately become licensed to care for patients. 8 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
The bad news is that health care delivery systems are altogether different beasts. They may stumble or break down due lack of personnel, absence of appropriate federal and state funding and legislation, or a misalignment between patient communities and the providers and resources that should be serving them. According to the 2021 Wisconsin Population Health and Equity Report Card issued by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, part of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, the state last year earned a paltry C based on key healthcare measures like length and quality of life for its citizens. Granted, Wisconsin is not the worst state and shares the middle ground with neighbors Iowa and Illinois, which also earned Cs, but falls behind Minnesota. At the top end sit Hawaii (length of life) and Colorado (quality of life) both graded A, while at the bottom are Mississippi (length) and West Virginia (quality), each earning an F grade. You can probably guess which population segments and educational levels tilt the scale either upward or downward in each of the states. One trait the Badger State does share with one of the F states (Mississippi and West Virginia) is that it’s also one of 13 states (including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming ) that refused expanded Medicare funds as part of the Affordable Care Act. Even very conservative states like Mike
