Feature
Hawaii continues to top ‘America’s Health Rankings’
For the fifth consecutive year, Hawaii has been named the healthiest state by the United Health Foundation’s annual report.
It probably should come as no surprise that Hawaii, which has been named the healthiest state for 5 consecutive years, is now being honored for having the best health care by personal finance website WalletHub.
The state’s high scores in two of the three broad dimensions of health care – first in outcomes and third in cost – used in the WalletHub analysis allowed it to overcome its ranking of 42nd in the third dimension, access, and finish ahead of Iowa and Minnesota, which tied for second. New Hampshire earned a fourth-place finish and the District of Columbia was fifth, courtesy of its first-place finish in the cost dimension, WalletHub reported. Maine, which finished 14th overall, was No. 1 in access.
The state in 51st place is Louisiana, which placed in the top 5 in both cancer and heart disease rates. Mississippi was credited with the 50th-best health care system, just behind Alaska (49), Arkansas (48), North Carolina (47), and Georgia (46). The lowest ranking in each dimension went to Alaska (cost), Texas (access), and Mississippi (outcomes), according to WalletHub’s analysts.
A closer look at some of the individual metrics shows that the District of Columbia has the most physicians per capita and Idaho has the fewest, Medicare acceptance is highest among physicians in North Dakota and lowest in Hawaii, and infant mortality is lowest in New Hampshire and highest in Mississippi, according to the WalletHub analysis, which was based on data from 19 sources, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Social Science Research Council.