In what could come as a shocker of a news, a recent state-by-state study conducted by US Healthcare revealed that working-age Americans in 21 states faced a higher possibility of premature death from 1990 to 2016.

The probability of premature loss of life among men and women age 20 to 55 is highest in Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississippi. When compared, the same-age inhabitants of New York, Minnesota, California, and several northeastern states have a lower likelihood of early deaths.

According to Dr. Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, under whom the research was coordinated said, "We are seeing dangerous disparities among states. Unless and until leaders in the US health care system work together to alleviate risks of diet, tobacco, and alcohol, more and more Americans will expire prematurely, and many times, gratuitously."

The study, published today in JAMA, covers a time period between 1990 and 2016. The research is part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), and is the most comprehensive state-by-state health calculation ever done and includes evaluations of occurrence, incidence, death and life expectancy, for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the nation overall.