Tips for Advocating for Yourself in the Doctor’s Office
It can be hard to get your opinion heard in a doctor’s office. Here are some tips to help you speak up:
Delaware News Journal
Several 2024 ranking lists rank Florida as one of the “worst” states for dental care and mental health care.
Additionally, a recent list from WalletHub, based on the quality and cost of medical care and health insurance in each state, found that Florida is one of the worst states for overall health care.
“Healthcare has two key components: cost and quality. The best health care in the country is no good if it bankrupts the people who try to receive it. And cheap care that offers low-quality or ineffective treatments isn’t worth paying for,” WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe said in the research.
“So the best states for health care are those that offer many choices for doctors and easy access to insurance, as well as high-quality care at affordable prices.”
Here’s why Florida made it onto WalletHub’s list of the worst states for health care and where it ranks.
What are the top-ranked health systems in the United States?
To find the states with the best and worst health care systems, WalletHub compared states across 44 measures of cost, access and outcomes, including the cost of medical and dental care, the quality of the public hospital system and the percentage of people who do not regularly see a doctor.
Minnesota has the best healthcare system in the U.S., according to WalletHub rankings.
“Minnesota is the best state for health care and has the most drop-in clinics per capita,” the study said.
“Minnesota has the fourth-lowest out-of-pocket health care costs and the sixth-lowest monthly premiums, making it relatively inexpensive to receive health care in the state.”
Here is WalletHub’s list of the top 10 US states with the best healthcare systems:
- Minnesota
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Iowa
- New Hampshire
- Massachusetts
- Utah
- Vermont
- Maine
- Colorado
Where does Florida rank in health care?
Florida ranked 42nd on WalletHub’s ranking list, making it the 10th worst state.
Florida ranked a little higher, 36th, according to 2022 data from the Commonwealth Fund.
“The 2022 State Health Care System Performance Scorecard identifies a range of deficiencies in the health care system and how they have been exacerbated by the pandemic,” the 2022 study states.
According to 2022 data, 13.4% of Florida adults were unable to get health care due to high medical costs, more than 2% higher than the national average of 11.2%.
Here are the rankings of the individual categories that contributed to Florida’s overall low score:
- 26th – Average monthly premium
- 24th – Hospital beds per capita
- 32nd – Number of doctors per capita
- 34th – Number of dentists per capita
- 48th – Percentage of adults with insurance
- 45th – Percentage of children with insurance
- 22nd – Percentage of at-risk adults who did not receive a regular doctor’s visit in the past two years
- 38th – Percentage of adults who have not visited a dentist in the past year
Here’s WalletHub’s list of the 10 states with the worst health care systems:
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- West Virginia
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Alaska
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- Florida
