New Ranking Shows West Virginia has Three Times Higher Preventable Deaths Rate

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – A new healthcare analysis from MoneyGeek, a technology company that specializes in personal finance, has ranked Hawaii as the top state in the country for healthcare.  Using data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, as well as the CDC and HealthData.gov, analyst ranked the best and worst states for healthcare based on health outcomes, access to care, and cost.

While Hawaii ranked 31^st for care accessibility, the state has low obesity rates, and ranked first for best healthcare outcome rates and lowest diabetes mortality rates. Hawaii also ranked 4^th for lowest preventable deaths. According to ratings from CMS, out of the 29 hospitals in Hawaii 4 have earned five-star quality ratings.

By contrast, West Virginia ranked number one with a score of 1 for worst states for healthcare. The state also ranked first for poor health outcomes, high diabetes mortalities, high preventable death rates, second for least affordable care. Additionally, the analysts noted that the West Virginia preventable death rate was three times the rate for Texas, which garnered first place for lowest rate in that category. Of the 51 hospitals in West Virginia, 3 have earned a one-star quality rating from CMS.

The top states following Hawaii with the best health outcomes included Vermont, California, Massachusetts, and New York. The worst states for health outcomes after West Virginia include Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Additionally, analysts noted that southern states have the highest diabetes mortality rates.

Texas ranked number one for states with the fewest preventable deaths with 44 per 100,000 residents. Utah, New York, Hawaii, and Nebraska made the list as the top 5. Tennessee ranked second for highest preventable death rates, followed by Kentucky, New Mexico, and Maine.

Overall, states in the northeast had twice the amount of primary care providers as western states. Rhode Island had the most with 255.1 primary care physicians for 100,000 residents. Massachusetts had the second highest at 227.1, followed by New York at 207.4, Connecticut at 197.8, and Pennsylvania at 197.0.

While Texas may have ranked number for fewest preventable deaths, the state earned 4^th spot for fewest primary care physicians at only 109.0 per 100,000 residents. Utah gained the top spot for the fewest primary care providers at 98.7, followed by Idaho at 99.2, Nevada at 101.6, Texas, and Montana at 110.3.

For access to care, Rhode Island ranked number 1, followed by Iowa, Ohio, North Dakota, and Massachusetts. States ranked for the worst access to care included Alaska, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Georgia.

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