The best and worst states for healthcare in 2022
Healthcare in the United States is expensive––and costs are still rising––even as quality of care remains varied across the country.
The average American spends more than $12,500 per year on personal healthcare, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). But what are Americans getting in return for those dollars?
WalletHub recently ranked states based on where Americans receive the best and worst healthcare in 2022. Rhode Island takes the cake for being the best state in the U.S. for healthcare, but the country as a whole still lags behind comparative wealthy nations on health coverage, life expectancy and disease burden. Fortunately, the U.S. has seen improvements in healthcare access among people in worse health, and healthcare cost growth has slowed somewhat, according to the report.
The 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia were ranked across 42 metrics of cost, accessibility and outcome to determine the best and worst states.
Here are the top 10 best states for healthcare, according to the report:
- Rhode Island
- Massachusetts
- Hawaii
- Minnesota
- Maryland
- Vermont
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Iowa
Rhode Island was the top state overall, ranking high for percentage of insured adults and children, as well as physicians per capita. Massachusetts, the No. 2 best state in the country for healthcare, also ranked high on several measures, including among the lowest average monthly insurance premium, physicians per capita and dentists per capita. The state also had the highest percentage of both adults and children in the nation.
Mississippi, the worst state in the U.S. for healthcare, ranked at the bottom across several measures, including the highest infant mortality rate and the second-highest stroke and heart disease rate. The state also ranked poorly for percentage of insured adults and percentage of adults with no dental visits in the last year.
Here are the 10 worst states for healthcare in the U.S.:
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Louisiana
- Alabama
- Mississippi
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."