If you've been following the news, then you know that major insurers such as Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare recently announced their exit from state-sponsored insurance exchanges. Although the uninsured rate has fallen, some have begun to question the cost and quality of health care in America, and, which states are doing it better than others.

The numbers-crunchers at WalletHub took a look at the numbers surrounding healthcare, like the amount of out-of-pocket expenses:

For every American, that amount is about $9,523 annually and expected to rise in the coming years, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In 2014, health spending accounted for 17.5 percent of national GDP. By 2025, that figure will increase by an estimated 2.6 percent. An international comparison of health expenses reveals that Americans even pay the highest for certain prescription drugs and some common medical procedures compared with patients in other wealthy countries. At $15,930, the average price tag of an appendectomy in the U.S., for instance, is nearly double the charge in the U.K. and almost eight times as high as in Spain.

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions, including health care costs, access and outcomes to come up with scores (out of 100 points) for how the states are doing.

First, the top ten states with the best healthcare:

  1. Minnesota (67.37)
  2. Maryland (64.36)
  3. South Dakota (63.98)
  4. Iowa (63.89)
  5. Utah (63.85)
  6. Kansas (63.16)
  7. Hawaii (62.71)
  8. Vermont (62.44)
  9. Washington, DC (61.56)
  10. Nebraska (60.95)

As for our state of Illinois, overall we received a score of 57.72, which puts us in 17th place overall. Illinois' numbers:

Health Care in Illinois (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

*     6th – Average Monthly Insurance Premium
*     18th – Number of Physicians per Capita
*     12th – Physician Medicare Acceptance Rate
*     24th – % of Adults Aged 18 to 64 with Health Insurance
*     6th – % of Children Aged 0 to 17 with Health Insurance
*     29th – % of At-Risk Adults Without a Routine Doctor Visit in Past Two Years
*     18th – % of Medical Residents Retained

Speaking of healthcare, this guy truly cracks me up:

Sorry about that.

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