PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked No. 6 for health care in the country in the most recent WalletHub study, released Monday.
The study, which covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia, considered 40 metrics in three categories: cost, access and outcomes.
Rhode Island ranked No. 4 in the nation for cost. Rhode Islanders had the third-lowest average monthly insurance premium in the country at $364.92. Massachusetts ranked No. 1 at $290.08.
Rhode Island ranked less well for the cost of a doctor office visit at No. 47 in the country with a $146.33 average cost. Massachusetts ranked second-worst in the country at $180.50.
Rhode Island ranked No. 10 in the nation for outcomes, ranking No. 4 for child death outcomes per 100,000 people, and No. 15 for average life expectancy in the country at 79.8 years.
The Ocean State ranked No. 24 in the country for its access metrics. The state had the third-most physicians per capita. However, the state also had the fifth-lowest percentage of medical residents retained in the nation at 30.4 percent (active physicians who completed graduate medical education in-state and are active in the state).
At No. 6, Rhode Island was the fourth-highest rated state in New England, behind Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which ranked first, second and third in the nation, respectively. Connecticut ranked No. 5 in the region and No. 11 in the United States. Maine ranked last in the region at No. 12 in the U.S.
Massachusetts ranked No. 2 in the country for both access and outcomes but was No. 31 in the nation for cost.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
