Maryland has the best medical debt protection policies and Tennessee has the worst, according to the "Medical Debt Policy Scorecard" from the Innovation for Justice.
Each state was ranked based on current policies that reduce instances of medical debt and effectively assist people experiencing debt, according to a May 25 news release from Innovation for Justice, a social justice innovation lab from Tucson-based University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law and the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business in Salt Lake City. Read more about the methodology here.
The 15 states with the best medical debt protection policies:
1. Maryland
2. California
3. Maine
4. New York
5. Colorado
6. Washington
7. Michigan
8. Massachusetts
9. Minnesota
10. Louisiana
11. Ohio
12. Indiana (tie)
12. Missouri (tie)
14. Montana
15. Oregon
The 15 states with the worst medical debt protection policies:
36. Utah
37. Nebraska
38. New Mexico
39. Mississippi
40. Delaware
41. Arkansas
42. Wyoming
43. Hawaii
44. South Dakota
45. New Jersey
46. Rhode Island (tie)
46. West Virginia (tie)
48. Texas
49. South Carolina
50. Tennessee