In an effort to gauge the best and worst states for health care, WalletHub recently evaluated and compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key health care metrics: cost, access and outcomes. The credit-report website company said it evaluated those dimensions using 40 relevant metrics, and assigning the metrics a corresponding weight. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best health care at the most reasonable cost.

Finally, the website said it determined each state and Washington’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate an overall score and used the resulting scores to rank the 51 jurisdictions. (WalletHub says it is the “first-ever website to offer free credit scores and full credit reports that are updated on a daily basis.)

WalletHub also noted that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 88.1 percent of the U.S. population has a regular place to go for medical care, even as the cost and quality of care typically varies widely from state to state. “The overall health of the population, more advanced medical equipment and a general lack of awareness regarding the best types of treatment, for instance, can all affect costs,” WalletHub noted. “Today, the average American spends more than $10,000 per year on personal health care, according to the most recent estimates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s about 17.9 percent of the U.S. GDP.”

The top three states for “best” health care, according to the WalletHub ranking, are Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with all three of the states scoring more than 64 points in the analysis. At the bottom of the ranking are Alaska, Mississippi and Louisiana.

For more details about the WalletHub “best and worst states” report and an interactive map, click here.
Source: WalletHub


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