According to a recent WalletHub study, North Carolina is the second-worst state for health care.
On Monday, the WalletHub released its findings, 2019s Best & Worst States for Health Care, to determine where Americans receive the best and worst health care. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 43 measures of cost, accessibility and outcome.
North Carolina took the 50th spot and ranked second to Alaska (51), for the worst healthcare. Minnesota took first place for the best healthcare.
In the top three measures, North Carolina was ranked 50th for health care costs, 50th for health care access and 33rd for mortality outcomes.
Scotland Health Care System CEO Greg Wood says North Carolina needs governmental support to improve health care.
“Scotland Health Care System is doing very well, but realizes the challenges of providing health care in our rural region are growing, like the rest of rural America,” said Wood. “It is critical that our community realizes that we are the safety net for the uninsured and underinsured in the communities we serve and though we are delighted to do so, it gets harder every day.”
He adds, “We need federal and state support to continue this mission and one way to do so, is to improve access to affordable health care coverage through the various “close the coverage gap” proposals now being debated in the NC General Assembly. We also need governmental support to allow us to recruit quality physicians and other health care professionals to our region as manpower needs are our second biggest challenge after adequate reimbursement.”
The Tar Heel state was ranked middle to low in most measures including insurance, doctors and doctor visits.
The health care rankings in North Carolina (1=Best; 25=Avg.):
45th – Average monthly insurance premium
42nd – Hospital beds per capita
26th – Physicians per capita
24th – Dentists per capita
35th – Physician Medicare-Acceptance Rate
40th – Percent of Insured Adults
29th – Percent of Insured Children
32nd – Percent of adults with no dental visit in the past year
34th – Percent of medical residents retained
Surrounding states’ ranks varied … South Carolina was No. 48, Virginia was No. 21 and Tennessee was No. 36.
Sen. Tom McInnis adds the fight for better healthcare continues in Raleigh.
”In any event, I think we can all agree that expanding access to health care for North Carolinians is a priority,” said McInnis. ”That is why the Senate passed legislation this session that make it more cost-effective for small business to provide health insurance to their employees.
“We also included a provision in the budget calling for a special legislative session dedicated solely to improving access to health care, but Gov. Cooper refused to take us up on that offer and has stuck to his Medicaid expansion-or-nothing ultimatum,” he added.
For information on the state health rankings, visit www.wallethub.com/edu/states-with-best-health-care/23457/#main-findings.
Jael Pembrick can be reached at jpembrick@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com or 910-506-3169.
