Table 29
State and Local Government Spending on Health and Hospitals, 1996
Rank	State	Amt.		Rank	State	Amt.
1	Wyoming	$735		27	Arkansas	$341
2	South Carolina	692		28	Rhode Island	336
3	Alabama	666		29	Indiana	335
4	NEW YORK	$650		30	Idaho	330
5	Louisiana	585		31	Ohio	330
6	Mississippi	563		32	Missouri	316
7	North Carolina	549		33	Illinois	302
8	Georgia	498		34	Delaware	285
9	Minnesota	474		35	Virginia	279
10	Tennessee	469		36	Utah	276
11	California	463		37	Wisconsin	275
12	Massachusetts	457		38	Colorado	275
13	Iowa	446		39	Pennsylvania	260
14	New Mexico	435		40	Montana	249
15	Washington	431		41	New Jersey	247
16	Michigan	410		42	Kentucky	239
17	Hawaii	408		43	West Virginia	237
18	Connecticut	404		44	Maine	234
19	Florida	403		45	Maryland	203
20	Alaska	401		46	South Dakota	189
21	Texas	399		47	Arizona	188
22	Kansas	375		48	North Dakota	123
23	Oregon	371		49	Vermont	110
24	Nebraska	364		50	New Hampshire	110
25	Nevada	364		U.S. average		$404
26	Oklahoma	361		N.Y.S. % above avg.		60.9%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau data; calculations by The Public Policy Institute
One reason for the high spending in New York is the number of physicians: 407 for every 100,000 residents, 44% above the U.S. average.