The best and worst states for children's healthcare
WalletHub, a personal finance website, ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia in pediatric health. Vermont was No. 1 and Nevada was placed at the bottom in state-by-state rankings of children’s healthcare.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia were judged on a combination of 30 metrics, including each state’s share of uninsured children, number of pediatricians and children’s hospitals to measures on childhood obesity and nutrition. The total score out of 100 was divided between three broad categories: health and access to care (55 total points), nutrition, physical activity and obesity (40 points) and oral health (5 points).
The top five states were:
- Vermont (ranked No. 1 overall n both the access to care and nutrition categories)
- District of Columbia
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- New York
Vermont was No. 1 on several individual metrics, including having the lowest infant death rate, the most pediatricians and family physicians per capita and the highest percentage of children with a recent medical and dental checkup (80.2 percent).
The lowest-ranked state, Nevada, had the highest percentage of children with “unaffordable” medical bills (17 percent) and was near the bottom on several other measures, including percentage of uninsured children (11.2 percent) and a lower share of kids with recent checkups (61.70 percent).
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.