Health & Fitness
RI Is No. 6 In Health Care: Here's Why
The accessibility isn't great, but the cost and overall effective make the Ocean State a health care leader, according to a new study.
The accessibility of health care in Rhode Island isn't anything to get excited about, but a recent study said thanks to affordability and overall effectiveness, the Ocean State ranked among the very best in America at health care.
A WalletHub study released Monday said Rhode Island is the sixth-best state in the country for health care. The personal finance company ranked all 50 states and D.C. across 40 metrics, and even though the state ranked just 24th in access, it ranked fourth in cost and 10th in outcome. You can see WalletHub's methodology here.
One aspect of the affordability that helped the ranking was having the third-lowest average monthly insurance premiums in the United States, trailing just Massachusetts and Utah. Rhode Island also has the third-most physicians per capita, behind only D.C. and Massachusetts.
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Rhode Island also boasts the third-lowest percentage of both at-risk adults with routine doctor visits over the past two years and adults with no dental visits over the last year.
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One metric that really dinged Rhode Island was that the state retains the fourth-lowest percentage of medical residents.
The Northeast, particularly New England, ranked very well in the WalletHub study. Vermont was No. 1, Massachusetts 2, and New Hampshire 3. Connecticut and Maine came in at 11 and 12, respectively. The Southeast had the worst showing, with Louisiana finishing last.
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