If you have an emergency, you probably don’t want to be in Maryland—the state has the longest hospital wait times in the country.
While the average American waits two hours and 25 minutes for emergency room care, Marylanders wait three hours and 48 minutes.
That’s according to a new analysis by online pharmacy NiceRx that ranked US states in terms of emergency room wait times and healthcare spending for 2020.
The states that spent the most and were also the most populous were California, which spent $174.1 billion on health care, followed by New York ($131 billion) and Texas ($75.9 billion).
It comes after DailyMail.com reported on the unhealthiest states in America, based on density of gyms, smoking rates and obesity levels.
Hover over your status to see wait time
The map above shows average wait times at US hospitals in 2020, the latest year available. Maryland ranked worst overall, followed by Delaware and Massachusetts. The states with the longest wait times tended to be on the East and West coasts, and the states in the South and Central America had better wait times overall.
The map above shows health care spending by state, though it was not broken down by capita. California ranked first overall followed by New York and Texas
The second-worst state in the US was Delaware at three hours and 15 minutes, followed by Massachusetts at three hours and nine minutes.
Rounding out the worst five were Rhode Island (three hours and five minutes) and New York (three hours and four minutes).
At the other end of the scale was North Dakota, with an average wait time of one hour and 44 minutes.
Just above the state were South Dakota and Nebraska, with average wait times of just under two hours.
Figures on hospital wait times were compiled using Becker’s Hospital Review, which monitors health care units across the country.
Data was included for 15 months from January 2020 to March 2021.
Wait times likely decreased at the start of the covid pandemic, as many stayed away from the hospital for fear of contracting the virus.
Lockdowns and the move to telemedicine also reduce pressure on wards.
But in recent months admissions have surged as seasonal viruses like flu and RSV return to push hospitals back to the brink.
The states with the longest emergency room wait times tended to be led by Democrats and were located along the east and west coasts.
They also tended to have larger populations than those with shorter wait times.
In terms of spending, California, the nation’s most populous state, spent the most at $174.1 billion on health care services.
New York spent the second highest amount, $87.1 billion, followed by Texas at $75.9 billion.
Pennsylvania ($58.3 billion) and Ohio ($45.3 billion) were also in the top five.
At the other end of the scale were Wyoming ($1.2 billion), South Dakota ($1.8 billion), and North Dakota ($2.4 billion).
NiceRx compiled the figures from data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The officials calculated the total health care spending in each state by adding up ten different categories.
These were: Costs of residences and ambulances, hospital costs, medical and clinical services, dental services, home care, prescription drugs, home care, durable medical products and others.
The data is only for the year 2020.
In most states, personal health care, such as money in nursing homes or ambulances, was the largest share of health care spending.
Durable medical products, such as oxygen equipment, wheelchairs, etc., accounted for the lowest total spending.
