JACKSON, Wyo. — Wyoming received a low score in a new ranking of how well the healthcare system is working for women by state.
The scorecard, put forth by the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, which conducts independent research on healthcare issues, found Wyoming to be 42nd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in overall women’s health and reproductive care.
One of the areas that brought the state’s score down was preventive care. Specifically, Wyoming had the lowest rates of women with up-to-date preventive screenings for cervical and breast cancer, and the highest rate of women ages 18 to 44 who haven’t had a routine checkup in the past two years among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the scorecard. Its overall ranking on health care quality and prevention was 43 out of 51.
The state also did poorly in the area of insurance coverage, provider accessibility and healthcare affordability, coming in 47 out of 51, according to the scorecard. Of women in Wyoming, 14% do not have health insurance coverage, compared to 10% of women nationwide. And 30% of women ages 18-44 did not have one or more person they thought of as their personal healthcare provider, compared to the national rate of 23%.
Wyoming did not score below average across the board. When it comes to infant mortality, Wyoming is on par with the rest of the county, at 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births (the national rate is 5.4). All-cause mortality rates are slightly below average, with 103.9 deaths per 100,000 women ages 15 to 44. The national average is 110.3.
The state scored the best in its low rates of women without a postpartum checkup after birth and in low-risk cesarean births per 100 women, which was 6% below the national average.
The scorecard reported that women’s health across the nation is poor, with women’s life expectancy at its lowest since 2006, deaths from preventable causes on the rise, and persisting healthcare inequities.
