Most Americans struggle to survive under our exploitative, broke, unfair, and unaffordable healthcare system. We have lower quality than most other wealthy countries yet pay much more. A high percentage of Americans are uninsured: 7.6% or 25 million people.

The USA’s complicated health insurance system is known for bankrupting patients and having great variation of quality, access, and cost from state to state. But which state is the best of the worst?

We used data from WalletHub to list the states with the best healthcare in America.

#10 Colorado

• Total Score: 62.60
• Health Outcomes Rank: 7

Colorado is tied with the District of Colombia for the most dentists per capita. Besides great teeth, Colorado is the state with the fourth-lowest cancer rate, and second-lowest stroke and heart disease rate.

#9 Maine

• Total Score: 63.60
• Health Outcomes Rank: 15

Maine has the fourth-best healthcare access in the country. In 2021, it joined the many states that expanded Medicaid. As a result, 78,000 Maine residents have access to Medicaid. Maine has highly-rated and high-quality hospitals that come at an affordable price.

#8 Vermont

• Total Score: 63.64
• Health Outcomes Rank: 3

Besides North Dakota, Vermont has the lowest infant mortality rate in the country at 4.8 per 1,000 live births and the second-highest percentage of children with health insurance.  In fact, only 3% of all Vermont residents are uninsured. Vermont also spends more than the national average on healthcare per resident at $14,904. The national average is $11,910.

#7 Utah

• Total Score: 63.79
• Health Outcomes Rank: 1

Utah is ranked first for health outcomes. It has the fourth-lowest rate of stroke and heart disease and a low percentage of adults with no dental visits per year. Although Utah has good healthcare quality, it lacks in healthcare access, where it scores 34th, and cost, where it scores 20th. Utah has one of the lowest physicians per capita and fewest hospital beds per capita. To put this into perspective, the District of Colombia, which has the most hospital beds, has four times more per capita than Utah.

#6 Massachusetts

• Total Score: 64.05
• Health Outcomes Rank: 2

Massachusetts has great access to healthcare, especially for children. It has the third-lowest infant mortality rate in the country. It has the highest percentage of children with health insurance as well as the highest percentage of insured adults aged 19–64.

#5 New Hampshire

• Total Score: 64.08
• Health Outcomes Rank: 8

New Hampshire has the lowest average monthly insurance premiums in the nation at $390. Only 5.5% of High school students smoke, and 16% use e-cigarettes. It also has one of the lowest percentages of retained medical residents.

#4 Iowa

• Total Score: 65.09
• Health Outcomes Rank: 12

Besides being the fourth overall best healthcare system, Iowa also ranks first on healthcare affordability at $11,437 per resident. Only 4% of Iowans lack health insurance and only 4.6 Infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

#3 South Dakota

• Total Score: 65.47
• Health Outcomes Rank: 12

South Dakota has a very low percentage of patients who leave the emergency room without being seen, at only 0.3%. It has the lowest number of strokes (33.7 stroke deaths per 100,000 people), and one of the lowest costs per inpatient hospital visit per day (average is $1,700)

#2 Rhode Island

• Total Score: 67.00
• Health Outcomes Rank: 6

One aspect that pushes Rhode Island to the top of the list is that it is ranked first in access to healthcare. 94% of all adults and 97% of all children have health insurance, and one physician for every 1,000 people. That is almost double Mississippi, which has the least amount at one per every 1,889 people.

#1 Minnesota

 

• Total Score: 67.38
• Health Outcomes Rank: 11

Something that really sets Minnesota apart from other states is its maternal mortality rate at 8.8 deaths per 100,000 births. It also has excellent healthcare access, with the highest number of convenient care clinics per capita. The average emergency room waiting time is 16 minutes. Residents of Minnesota also enjoy low dental costs, one of the lowest out-of-pocket costs, and low monthly insurance premiums. All of these factors and more help Minnesotans have one of the highest life expectancies at 80.4 years.

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