Children’s Health Care: Best and Worst States

With Every Kid Healthy Week kicking off on April 23 and children’s health care costs getting increasingly more expensive, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst States for Children's Health Care.

In order to determine which states offer the most cost-effective and highest-quality health care for children, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 30 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of children aged 0 to 17 in excellent or very good health to pediatricians and family doctors per capita.

Best for Children’s Health Care			Worst for Children’s Health Care
1.	Vermont		42.	Arizona
2.	District of Columbia		43.	Alaska
3.	Massachusetts		44.	Wyoming
4.	Connecticut		45.	Oklahoma
5.	New York		46.	Montana
6.	Maryland		47.	Arkansas
7.	Hawaii		48.	Mississippi
8.	New Hampshire		49.	Texas
9.	New Jersey		50.	Louisiana
10.	California		51.	Nevada

Source: WalletHub

Best vs. Worst

• Massachusetts has the lowest share of uninsured children aged 0 to 17, 1.3 percent, which is 8.8 times lower than in Alaska, the highest at 11.5 percent.
• The District of Columbia has the lowest share of children aged 0 to 17 with unaffordable medical bills, 5.20 percent, which is 3.3 times lower than in Nevada, the highest at 17.00 percent.
• The District of Columbia has the most pediatricians per 100,000 residents, 45.52, which is 25.1 times more than in Oklahoma, the fewest at 1.81.
• New Hampshire has the lowest share of obese children aged 10 to 17, 8.50 percent, which is 3.1 times lower than in Mississippi, the highest at 26.20 percent.
• Iowa has the highest share of dentists participating in Medicaid for child dental services, 83.70 percent, which is 5.7 times higher than in New Hampshire, the lowest at 14.80 percent.

For the full report and to see where your state or the District ranks, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-child-health/34455/