Thursday, 4:30 PM
Mass. ranks as the country's seventh healthiest state
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Massachusetts jumped two notches and ranked as the seventh healthiest state in the country in an annual report released today, which found that the Bay State had a high immunization rate for children, a low infant mortality rate, and a low percentage of residents without health insurance.
The rankings, by United Health Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit foundation funded by the health care company UnitedHealth Group, also found that the rate of uninsured dropped by 16 percent in the last year in Massachusetts and that the infant mortality rate has fallen by 40 percent since 1990. Out of 50 states, Massachusetts came in ninth in 2005 and held the number 10 spot in 1990.
"Health is not the product of doing one thing well or two things well," said Dr. Archelle Georgiou, medical adviser to United Health Foundation. "It's a combination of personal habits, community services and public policy initiates. Massachusetts seems to be hitting on more cylinders than other states."
Overall Americans are 0.3 percent healthier than they were a year ago, with Minnesota topping the rankings as the country's healthiest state for the fourth straight year. Three New England states -- Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont -- also finished among the top five.
Massachusetts, however, still struggles with AIDS, tuberculosis, and hepatitis, ranking 37th out of the 50 states in infectious disease rates. The state also has a high violent crime rate -- ranking 32 out of 50 -- and has seen the number of children living in poverty jump by 16 percent in the last year.
Two trends thing that struck researchers in the Bay State was the relatively low number of people without insurance and the high rate of immunizations.
"That suggests that the more people have access to health care, the more likely they are to get preventative services," Georgiou said.
Health care advocates will keep a close eye on Massachusetts when the state's landmark universal health care law begins to take effect on Jan. 1. The ultimate goal is to provide coverage for about 400,000 residents who now lack it.
As more residents have insurance and can take advantage of preventative health care, Georgiou expects rates for sickness, disease, and mortality to eventually drop.
