COLORADO’S HEALTH SYSTEM RANKED NO. 6

Colorado’s health care system ranks sixth-best in the country, according to a new report in which researchers argue that states that fully embraced the Affordable Care Act saw the biggest improvements to their health systems.

The report, released Thursday by The Commonwealth Fund, found that Colorado’s health care system jumped five spots in the organization’s Scorecard on State Health System Performance from before the Affordable Care Act to the present. That was the fifthlargest jump among all states. All of the top five most-improved states — which also included California, Kentucky, New York and Washington — expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and set up state-based insurance exchanges.

The scorecard measures states based on 44 data points covering access to health care, cost, quality and patient outcomes. Not surprisingly, Colorado scored highly on measurements of healthy living, while also performing well in preventing avoidable costs and promoting equal treatment within the system. It performed slightly less well in ensuring access to affordable health care and preventative treatment.