Convenient, centrally located and affordable: Chicago is the #1 destination in the U.S. for meetings and events. Cvent, a tech company whose web-based software allows companies and associations to plan events, recently announced Chicago overtook Orlando and Las Vegas to take the top spot.

A new report released last week confirmed that hospitals in states like Illinois, which expanded their Medicaid programs last year using new federal funding, are reaping the benefits.

In 2013, Illinois lawmakers opted to expand Medicaid, offering new access to routine, coordinated health care to as many as 342,000 uninsured, low-income residents. As proponents predicted, uncompensated emergency room visits and hospital admissions have decreased substantially in states that took the federal dollars to expand medical assistance. Elsewhere, uncompensated services have remained relatively higher.