Doctors Practicing in Red States Have It Much Better than Doctors in Blue States

A doctor puts his hand over his chest during a “House call” rally against proposed healthcare reform legislation at the Capitol in Washington November 5, 2009. (Photo: Reuters)

A new study finds all but 1 the best 10 states for doctors to practice medicine in are Republican states, while all of the 10 worst states are Democratic states. WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics in order to help doctors decide where to practice, and the results are noteworthy.

Not a single Republican voted for ObamaCare and most Republican states opted out of the Medicaid expansion provision in the signature Democratic legislation. With young doctors coming out of medical school with an average student loan debt of more than $190,000 in 2017, the bill has asked them to provide their skills and services for a reduced cost.

First, let’s take a look at the entire table.

Overall Rank (1=Best)	State	Total Score	‘Opportunity & Competition’ Rank	‘Medical Environment’ Rank
1	South Dakota	75.97	3	1
2	Nebraska	70.66	7	3
3	Idaho	70.64	1	17
4	Iowa	70.16	2	16
5	Minnesota	69.94	9	4
6	Wisconsin	69.84	6	7
7	Kansas	68.86	8	9
8	Montana	68.01	5	13
9	North Dakota	65.19	14	11
10	Wyoming	64.88	4	35
11	Alabama	62.50	11	31
12	Mississippi	62.24	10	43
13	Arizona	62.10	12	32
14	Colorado	61.95	18	12
15	Tennessee	61.77	16	24
16	Utah	60.92	17	20
17	Maine	60.70	32	2
18	South Carolina	60.25	19	21
19	Washington	58.59	20	26
20	Georgia	58.31	22	22
21	West Virginia	58.24	13	45
22	Nevada	57.40	15	47
23	Arkansas	56.99	25	25
24	North Carolina	56.86	35	8
25	Indiana	56.82	27	23
26	Alaska	56.37	39	5
27	Louisiana	56.11	21	37
28	Texas	55.55	33	14
29	New Mexico	54.16	24	40
30	Florida	54.08	29	34
31	Missouri	53.90	26	38
32	Pennsylvania	53.25	31	36
33	Kentucky	53.07	23	46
34	Vermont	52.93	42	6
35	Michigan	52.83	36	27
36	Oklahoma	52.53	34	28
37	New Hampshire	52.32	28	44
38	Virginia	51.05	40	29
39	Delaware	49.03	37	39
40	Ohio	48.99	38	42
41	Connecticut	48.94	44	15
42	Illinois	48.86	30	51
43	California	47.82	46	18
44	Maryland	47.82	41	41
45	Oregon	47.71	47	19
46	Massachusetts	46.59	43	33
47	District of Columbia	45.75	51	10
48	Hawaii	43.25	50	30
49	New York	41.39	49	48
50	Rhode Island	40.86	45	50
51	New Jersey	40.24	48	49

One of the major complaints regarding ObamaCare was that it would increase competition among consumers, not providers. According to WalletHub, the best 5 states for projected competition by 2024 include 4 red states and 1 purple state (Nevada), while the worst 5 are all blue states.

The best 5 states for the highest annual wages (adjusted for cost of living) are all red states, while the bottom 5 worst are all blue states. It’s worth noting that doctors’ wages in the most extreme leftwing states for healthcare are the worst, while those in extreme red states have it the best.

Highest Average Annual Wage	Lowest Average Annual Wage
Mississippi	Oregon
South Dakota	California
Iowa	New York
Georgia	Hawaii
Tennessee	District of Columbia

* Adjusted for cost of living

In other words, doctors are being forced to compete over more for less money, otherwise known in the free market as profit inventive. There is a 10-time difference between the 5 best and worst states on these two metrics.

We’ll leave you with their infographic below.