The Mercatus Center within Fairfax, Va.-based George Mason University released its June 2018 update report on patient access to healthcare.
The Healthcare Openness and Access Project reviewed state health data to draw comparisons on states' healthcare flexibility. The ranking leverages the overall HOAP index, which averages 10 equally weighted subindexes that "measure the discretion patients and providers have over broad areas of healthcare, such as public health and telemedicine," the report states.
Here is how all 50 states and Washington, D.C., stacked up, ordered from most open to least:
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Montana
- Indiana
- Utah
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Colorado
- Alaska
- Mississippi
- Wisconsin
- Virginia
- South Dakota
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- Arizona
- Hawaii
- Alabama
- Florida
- Oregon
- Texas
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Maine
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
- Delaware
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Illinois
- California
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Kentucky
- West Virginia
- Connecticut
- Vermont
- District of Columbia
- Georgia
- New York
- New Jersey
More articles on rankings and ratings:
10 most affordable medical schools for out-of-state applicants
18 top healthcare jobs by pay, growth outlook
CMS postpones July hospital star ratings update