A new survey has found that the combination of Affordable Care Act-driven enhanced access to health insurance and improved performance by health care providers is producing better health status in communities across the U.S.

The survey looked at health status in 306 regional health care markets based on factors such as access to care, quality, avoidable hospital use, health care costs, and health outcomes found modest improvements in these areas and attributed those improvements to expanded access to health insurance and government quality programs introduced through the Affordable Care Act. The gains the survey documented occurred from 2011 through 2014.

To learn more about how the survey was administered and what it found and to see and compare health status in individual communities, go here to read the Commonwealth Fund report Scorecard on Local Health System Performance.