Health care. It has been the headline for many news sites and stations for several weeks and Republicans find themselves back at the drawing board to figure out a health care reform.
While politicians have been raising concerns on this subject for some time, personal finance wesbite WalletHub took an in-depth look at the Best & Worst States for Health Care.
For this study WalletHub analysts compared 50 states and the District of Columbia across 35 key measures including health care cost, accessibility and outcome. The data collected ranged from average monthly insurance premium to physicians per capita to share of insured population.
Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that Florida didn’t rank well in this study, in fact, the sunshine state came in as the ninth worst state for health care. While the state is home to some of the top cities to retire in, it is home to a lot of health care issues.
Florida ranked fourth in highest percent of medical residents retained and fourth for lowest percent of insured adults aged 18-64. Additionally the state ranked first for lowest percent of insured children aged zero to 17.
Concidentally there are five cities in Florida that rank in the top 50 for healthiest cities in America: Fort Lauderdale (12), Orlando (20), Tampa (27), Tallahassee (39), and Miami (42).
To determine the healthiest cities, WalletHub compared 150 of the most populated cities in the U.S. across 34 key indicators of good health. The results ranged from ‘cost of doctor visits’ to ‘fruit and vegetable consumption.’
Jacksonville ranked first for lowest cost of medical visits and Port St. Lucie ranked third. Cheaper medical costs could be a big contributor to Florida’s high rankings of uninsured residents.
Furthermore, Orlando ranked fourth for most healthy restaurants per capita, while Tallahassee tied for first for most walking trails per capita. One Florida city had some unhealthy rankings though.
Hialeah was second for fewest healthy restaurants per capita, first for lowest percent of physically active adults, fourth for fewest running trails per capita, and second for fewest walking trails per capita.
