Low Marks for Arkansas in New Health and Healthcare Study

Arkansas ranks near the bottom in a new study on health and healthcare in the United States.

The Natural State comes in at number 48 overall out of 50.

The study was done by the Commonwealth Fund analyzing health and health care in more than 300 local areas, covering all U.S. residents.

The report ranks areas on how healthy residents are, whether they are getting the health care they need, and how much the care costs.

Here's how the state ranked in the following categories:

• Prevention & Treatment: 38
• Avoidable Hospital Use & Costs: 39
• Equity: 47
• Healthy Lives: 48

The study found wide variations across communities in the U.S., with the top-ranked areas doing two or more times as well as the worst-performing areas, even within the same state.

The study also broke down the numbers for five Arkansas cities, including Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Springdale and Texarkana.

The figures for Little Rock are highest in the number of children 17 and under who are insured. The figures drop for the number of insured adults aged 18 to 64. The capital city's figures are lowest in the number of adults who visited the dentist within the last year.

Despite their ranks, the study found there is room for improvement in all local areas. If all areas did as well as the top performers:

• 30 million more adults and children would have health insurance
•  9 million more adults over age 50 would receive evidence-based preventive care like cancer screenings and immunizations
•  1.3 million more Medicare beneficiaries would receive safe and appropriate prescription medication

Click here for the full report on Arkansas.

Click here for the full report on the nation.