PROVIDENCE – Women in Rhode Island have the best access to health care in the nation, according to a new study.
The Ocean State, which ranked No. 3 overall in a SmartAsset study analyzing women’s health care across the U.S., also has the lowest percentage of uninsured women at 3.84%.
SmartAsset says it compiled the rankings in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny abortion as a federal right, and to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, which in June found that about 1 in 7 women reported being in poorer health.
“Currently, abortion in the state is legal,” the study said. “Rhode Island offers both family medical leave and school-related parental leave. Women in the state also have access to roughly 41.05 obstetricians and gynecologists per 10,000 women, which is the fifth-highest amount for this metric.”
Massachusetts was ranked No. 2 overall, while Hawaii was ranked best in the nation.
Connecticut and New Hampshire were ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
SmartAsset analyzed data relating to access to care, affordability, and general health and well-being to put together its rankings.
Most of the data is from 2020 and was compiled from a range of resources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator and the Health Resources & Services Administration.
The full study can be found here.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
