12 Worst States for Health Care: 2023

Finding affordable, quality health care in the U.S. is not easy, and for residents in some states, it is quite difficult, according to a new report from personal finance website WalletHub.

“We do not like to use the word ‘ration’ in the U.S. to refer to health care, but that is what effectively happens; we ration health care to those who can afford it,” noted Betsy Cliff, a public health sciences assistant professor at the University of Chicago.

The average American family spends about $12,914 per year on personal health care, according to estimates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This is a big financial burden for many who are struggling to make ends meet while facing high inflation. What’s more, research shows that higher costs do not necessarily result in better outcomes.

To determine both the best states for health care and the worst, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions:

Cost, including spending on medical and dental visits and average monthly health insurance premiums
Access, including medical professionals per capita; number of clinics and urgent care facilities per capita; and telehealth adoption
Outcomes, including infant, child and maternal mortality rates; life expectancy; rates of major diseases; and hospital readmissions

Researchers evaluated these dimensions using 44 relevant metrics, and graded each one on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best health care at the most reasonable cost.

See the gallery for the 12 worst states for health care, according to WalletHub.