Hawaii is home to the fewest preventable hospitalizations in the nation per 1,000 Medicare patients, whereas Kentucky far exceeds the national average of 49.4.
Preventable hospitalizations most often occur when conditions are not treated early in an outpatient setting. They often affect people without health insurance and add an estimated $30.8 billion annually in nonessential financial burden on the U.S. healthcare system, according to the United Health Foundation.
UHF factors preventable hospitalizations as an indication of the quality of primary healthcare received when calculating its annual America's Health Rankings report, which is the longest-running annual assessment of the nation's health on a state-by-state basis.
Here are the complete state-by-state rankings the foundation used to calculate states' 2018 overall health scores, the most recent available. Values reflect the number of discharges for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions per 1,000 Medicare enrollees. Access the complete report here.
- Hawaii — 23.3
- Utah — 27.9
- Colorado — 31.2
- Idaho — 32.3
- Washington — 32.7
- Oregon — 33.9
- Alaska — 36
- Arizona — 36.1
- California — 36.2
- Minnesota — 36.6
- Vermont — 39.4
- New Mexico — 39.5
- Montana — 41.1
- Nevada — 42.2
- Virginia — 42.8
- Wyoming — 43.1
- Wisconsin — 45
- South Carolina — 45.6
- Connecticut — 46.2
- Maryland — 46.7
- New York — 46.8
- New Hampshire — 47.1
- Delaware — 47.2
- Nebraska — 48.3
- Iowa — 48.9
- North Carolina — 49
- North Dakota — 49.1
- Maine — 49.4
- New Jersey — 49.6
- Georgia — 50.2
- South Dakota — 50.5
- Kansas — 51.3
- Pennsylvania — 51.7
- Texas — 53.2
- Florida — 53.6
- Rhode Island — 54
- Massachusetts — 54.3
- Illinois — 54.8
- Michigan — 55.4
- Missouri — 56.6
- Indiana — 56.8
- Ohio — 57
- Tennessee — 59.3
- Oklahoma — 59.9
- Arkansas — 61.8
- Alabama — 62
- Louisiana — 65.8
- Mississippi — 70.2
- West Virginia — 75
- Kentucky — 76.6