This southern state is struggling with staggering deaths from cancer, diabetes and other health conditions. Millions of residents lack basic health insurance and can’t get doctor’s appointments.
Mississippi residents often say they are facing a “health crisis.”
These problems reached a fever pitch on Monday when the Magnolia State was named the state with the worst health care system in the country.
Researchers at WalletHub found that Mississippi has a shockingly low rate of health insurance and one of the fewest dental clinics in the country.
The results showed that the country’s residents are most likely to experience stroke, heart disease and infant mortality.
Idenia Sturdevant, who suffers from diabetes, kidney failure and high blood pressure, is one of many Mississippi residents dealing with the state’s long-term health problems
Taborian Hospital lies in ruins in Mound Bayou, in the Mississippi Delta, where poverty and unemployment cause some of the world’s highest rates of diabetes, obesity and infant mortality
Alabama, West Virginia, Georgia and Oklahoma rank among the top five worst health care systems.
People seeking better care should go to Minnesota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Iowa or New Hampshire, researchers said.
Cassandra Happe says tax season is tough
They looked at the cost of health care in each state, how easy it was to get an appointment, and the overall health of the population.
They used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. Census Bureau and dozens of other government-led and private groups.
Cassandra Happe, who led the research, said the best performing companies managed to strike a balance between cost and quality.
“The best health care in the country is of no use if the people who strive for it go bankrupt,” Happe said.
‘And cheap health care isn’t worth it if the treatment is substandard or ineffective.’
Mississippi’s substandard health care has long been a concern for residents.
Veteran journalist Peter Keith wrote in May that the state was in a “life and death” crisis.
He said lawmakers should lower insurance costs so people can access care early, before they become chronically ill.
Shortly afterward, efforts to add an additional 200,000 Mississippians to the Medicaid rolls failed in the Republican-led Legislature.
A team of nurses and doctors treat a patient at St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota, considered the nation’s best healthcare system.
Advocates of the change faced opposition from Gov. Tate Reeves, who calls Medicaid “welfare,” and others.
This month, Magnolia Tribune columnist Sid Salter warned that staffing shortages in rural Mississippi will make it increasingly difficult to visit a caregiver in the coming years.
This was particularly worrying for the baby boomer generation, who got sick but couldn’t find a doctor, Salter said.
The nonprofit Commonwealth Fund concluded this month that Mississippi ranks very poorly on women’s health.
The study found that more women die in childbirth in Mississippi than anywhere else in America.
They also have the highest mortality rates in the country for cervical cancer and breast cancer.
Meanwhile, the state’s health care system is struggling with pressure to upgrade equipment and store patient data as revenues decline.
The state’s Singing River Health System, a major healthcare provider on the Gulf Coast, announced in May that the personal information of some 900,000 patients had been stolen in a ransomware attack in 2023.
Overall, researchers concluded that Southern states have the worst health care systems in the country.
Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, West Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida all rank in the bottom 10.
States in the Northeast, Midwest and Mountain West generally scored highest in the rankings.
Minnesota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Utah, Vermont and Maine all rank in the top 10.
Minnesota was praised for having many clinics that provided quality care at the right price.
As a result, Minnesotans have one of the highest life expectancies in the U.S. and are typically seen by emergency room caregivers within 16 minutes.
Rhode Island ranks second for its high childhood vaccination rate, many physicians, and the lowest average out-of-pocket medical costs in the country.
“The best states for health care are those that make quality care affordable, offer many choices for doctors, and make insurance easily accessible,” Happe adds.
