Minnesota and Iowa Score Big in New Healthcare Rankings

The Pursuit of Quality Healthcare in America

Quality healthcare is something every American wants - but finding excellent care without paying a fortune can feel impossible. A new WalletHub study found that two of South Dakota's neighbors are among the nation's best when it comes to delivering quality care at a reasonable cost.

Studies have also shown that spending a large amount of money on healthcare doesn't always mean you're getting a better outcome.  Wallet Hub has once again taken it upon itself to compare all 50 states in healthcare cost and quality in order to determine which states provide the best and worst care.

Get our free mobile app

READ MORE: Recent Storm Leaves Sioux Falls Buried in Trees and Broken Fences

Top Rankings: Minnesota and Iowa Shine

When the numbers were all crunched, Minnesota and Iowa came out with very high ratings - placing second and third in the study. Minnesota has the highest number of convenient care clinics and is a relatively inexpensive state for healthcare. Plus, Minnesota has the 8th-best hospital system in the country.

Third-place Iowa offers strong access to medical care, short emergency wait times, and a high percentage of its citizens have health insurance. In fact, Iowa's hospital system is the third best in the country, with some of the lowest in-patient costs in the U.S.

Evaluating Healthcare: Key Considerations

There were three major categories considered when comparing states, and those were:

1. Cost
2. Access
3. Outcomes

READ MORE:  Every Midwest Town Has That One Giant Thing

Within those categories, they looked at things like the cost of medical and dental visits, average hospital visit costs, monthly insurance premiums, out-of-pocket medical spending, quality of public hospital systems, emergency room wait times, number of doctors and nurses, medicare acceptance rates, mortality rates, and much more.

To see how the rest of the country is rated, check out the complete study on WalletHub.