State among worst in health care for children, new report shows

As Ohio begins the process of opening COVID-19 vaccines to children age 16 and older and Every Kid Healthy Week begins at the end of April, a new report shows Ohio ranks near the bottom in health care for children.

Ohio is the eighth-worst state for children’s health care, based on the report by WalletHub, a personal finance website that used 35 metrics to find the most cost-effective and highestquality health care for children across the 50 states and District of Columbia.

“Luckily, around 95% of children aged 0 to 18 have health insurance to protect them if they do get sick. The bad news is that the high coverage rate hasn’t translated to lower health costs for parents, and the average family premium rose 4% in 2020 alone,” Adam McCann, WalletHub financial writer, wrote in the report. “It’s a different story in every state, though.”

Ohio ranked in the top half of only one category, coming in 23rd in COVID-19 positive tests in the past week per capita. It ranked 25th in the percentage of uninsured children.

In all other categories, the Buckeye State was in the bottom half of states.

Ohio ranked 31st in both the percentage of children in excellent or very good health and the percentage of children with excellent or very good teeth. It ranked 32nd in the percentage of obese children, 41st in pediatricians and family doctors per capita, 42nd in infant death rate and 47th in the percentage of overweight children.

“Ohio is the eighth-worst state for children’s health care. It has one of the highest infant death rates, and only about 66% of children between 19 to 35 months old have all the recommended vaccines – one of the lowest shares in the country. The small number of pediatricians, family doctors and free or lowcost dental clinics per capita make it difficult for kids to access health care,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez said. “The state ranks low in terms of nutrition as well, mostly because of the large number of fast food restaurants per capita. This in turn leads to the fifthlargest share of overweight children aged 10-17 in the country – 18.7%.”

The District of Columbia ranked as the best place for child health, followed by Hawaii, Vermont, Washington and Maryland. The country’s worst states were Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arkansas.