U.S. metros spend the most on health care

Tara Banau covers hospitals, health care providers, and insurance companies. You can access Tara with the signal tarabannow.70.

At first glance, Charleston, West Virginia, New York, New York, and Janesville, Wisconsin may seem to have little in common.

But these three metros have some of the highest per capita healthcare costs in the country, a new report found. There are other surprises as well. California’s three metros, which are notoriously expensive, have the lowest spending, while West Virginia’s two metros are among the highest spending.

STAT Plus: Health-care job growth has stagnated at the largest for-profit companies.

The Health Care Cost Research Institute, a nonprofit, independent research group, today released this report and a new data tool called Health Care Cost Landscape. The tool allows users to search for specific metropolitan areas in the United States and examine the factors behind health care spending there.

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