State health care study ranks insurance coverage across the country

State health care study - Book with pages shaped like a heart

A new data analysis has revealed the best and worst performing states for U.S. health insurance.

Vermont currently boasts the best state health care system, whereas Louisiana’s is the very worst, according to a new study conducted by WalletHub.com.

CDC data shows that 88.1 percent of Americans have access to regular medical care.

That said, despite the availability of state health care for most Americans, the quality and cost of those services varies greatly across the country. Depending on the individual state, there is a significant difference in the population’s overall health, the availability of advanced medical equipment, and the general awareness with regard to the ideal forms of treatment. Those issues all have a direct impact on costs associated with health care services.

The WalletHub data analysis showed that the average American’s annual personal health care costs are over $10,000, based on figures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That said, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s figures show that just because Americans are paying more, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are reaching high international standards for care. The United States is falling behind many other developed nations in a range of categories, such as disease burden, life expectancy, and even overall health insurance coverage.

State health care access has been improving in the United States, particularly for sick Americans.

The report showed that those in the worst health are gaining better health care access and the growth of medical care costs has been slowing. The research also looked into the trends across the country, as the improvements are hardly uniform from one state to the next. WalletHub conducted its comparison across all fifty states as well as the District of Columbia. It took 40 cost measures, outcomes and accessibility factors into account.

Vermont had the highest overall rank for its health care services, with a total score of 66.31. It was also highest in the “outcomes” category, though it was in third place for cost and was in 23rd place for access. Massachusetts was in second place overall and for outcomes, though it was in 31st place for cost and second place for access. Third, fourth and fifth place overall went to New Hampshire, Minnesota and Hawaii, respectively.

At the bottom of the state health care ranks were Alaska (with a score of 41.78, in 22nd place for outcomes, 37th State health care study - Book with pages shaped like a heartplace for access and 51st place for cost), Mississippi (with a score of 41.53, in 51st place for outcomes, 26th place for access and 42nd place for cost), and Louisiana (with a score of 41.14, in 49th place for outcomes, 39th place for access and 48th place for cost), in 49th, 50th and 51st places, respectively.

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