States in the Southeast spend less on health care, ranking them among the worst in the country on that subject, according to a new study by a private company that supplies information for seniors known as the Social Security Resource Center.
Tennessee spent the least amount of any state with per capita on health care spending in 2020 at $5,9832, or 43.3% less than what the top state, Maine, spent per capita that year, the study showed.
Overall, Alabama ranked as the worst state for health care based on spending and the availability and use of hospitals, primary care doctors, dentists and mental health providers. Alabama also ranked low in health care spending and had fewer dentists and mental health providers per capita compared with Tennessee. Georgia ranked as the fifth-worst state for health care in the new study.
Worst states for health care
1. Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. Delaware
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia
6. Mississippi
7. South Carolina
8. South Dakota
9. Arizona
10. North Dakota
Source: Social Security Resource Center. Health care spending per capita in each state was sourced from America's Health Rankings, using the information on state dollars dedicated to public health and federal dollars directed to states per person by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources & Services Administration (two-year estimate). The research, undertaken by Social Security Office Near Me, looked at all 50 states and ranked them on health care spending, the number of hospitals per million inhabitants, primary care physicians and dentists per cpaita.