When the scores for nine factors related to access to health care for older people were added together, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, North Dakota, West Virginia, Connecticut, Nebraska and Iowa scored the best. We compared the 50 states and Washington, D.C., to find out how they rank in terms of cost, access and quality. The biggest mistake people make when buying health plans is focusing on premium costs. The fact is that if the premium is low, the health plan operator collects other items to maintain your earnings.
In general, the lower the premium, the higher your co-pays or the percentage of cost sharing for other provider services, the higher your deductible before the company pays a penny and the smaller the provider network. If you're young and healthy, a plan with lower premiums may work for you, since you rarely need to see a doctor, maybe not even for an annual checkup. On the other hand, if you have health problems, it's very possible that you'll get better results if you spend more to have access to the doctors and specialists you need to stay well. The original Medicare will continue to provide low-cost access to approximately 90% of all doctors, 75% of all specialists and virtually all 5000 hospitals.
Medicare will continue to pay 80% of the bills and the vast majority of members will continue to take out supplementary Medigap insurance to cover the remaining 20%. The good news is that many congressional legislators are lobbying to expand Original Medicare benefits to eye, hearing and dental care. Many are also still advocating allowing the federal government to start negotiating lower drug prices with manufacturers. In addition, legislators want to lower the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60, thus reducing overall costs by attracting younger, healthier older people.
If you have difficulty accessing the content of our website or need help with the functionality of the site, please use one of the contact methods listed below. Connecticut ranked first, largely because it has more than 100 parks where retirees can spend time, boosting the state's welfare ranking. Connecticut also has one of the lowest percentages of uninsured seniors (3%) compared to other United States. Keystone State has many nursing homes and is notable for its large number of providers of geriatric health services.
Massachusetts is the best state in the country for health care. According to the blog, it has the lowest percentage of people over 65 without insurance, a large number of nursing homes and good palliative care.
