Variance In Children’s Healthcare

I think state-by-state variance in basic statistics is fascinating. It seems like we should have standardized around some fundamentals by now, but the variances continue to be significant.

In a recent report out by The Commonwealth Fund, it showed some wide variation:

• Only 46% of kids visit the doctor and dentist at least once a year in Idaho, but 75% of Massachusetts children do.
• Infant mortality rates are 2.5 times higher in the District of Columbia than in Maine.
• Kids in South Carolina are 5.7 times as likely to wind up in the hospital for asthma as those in Vermont.
• The percentage of children who received five recommended vaccinations from ages 19 months to 35 months ranges from 94% in Massachusetts to 67% in Nevada.
• Utah has the lowest spending per person at $3,972. The District of Columbia has the highest at $8,295.