Best and worst states for health-insurance costs If you're like most small-business operators, the biggest challenge you face - next to simply staying afloat - is providing your employees with health insurance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's not a problem that figures to disappear. This already significant drain on the bottom line is accelerating at a rate that leaves most other business costs in the dust. It may insurance automobile rates health insurance quote interest you that geography plays a big role in how much you pay for health insurance. For a variety of reasons, premiums can fluctuate significantly from state to state. So if you're trying to decide where to locate a new business - or relocate an existing one - factor the cost of health insurance into your deliberations. Below, I'll tell you the 10 best and worst totaled auto and insurance health insurance quote states for buying health insurance, based purely on cost. Here's a preview: If you decide to go for the lowest rates possible, make sure your policy covers frostbite - because the Dakotas lead the way. In this regard, insurance premiums are like a state's regulatory environment or the tax bite it imposes on residents, which also vary geographically. I wrote about those two factors in earlier sagamore health insurance health insurance quote columns, and health-insurance costs are every bit as important. A deck stacked against small business Indeed, providing health insurance for themselves and their employees is the most pressing issue entrepreneurs face. That's not just a guess on my part. It's what small-business men and women have been telling pollsters from the National Federation of Independent Business every year since 1986. Their concern is not surprising when health insurance quote health insurance quote you consider that during