MA Near Top In America's Health Rankings

BOSTON — The United Health Foundation recently released the 2019 edition of its America’s Health Rankings Annual Report, which represents the longest-running state-by-state analysis of the nation’s health. The foundation had good news for Massachusetts, which finished second-healthiest overall of the 50 states.

The Bay State ranked in the top 10 for all five categories that factored into the overall ranking:

• Behaviors (including measures for drug deaths, drinking and obesity): 4th
• Community & Environment (including pollution, diseases and occupational hazards): 4th
• Policy (including immunization laws and public health funding): 3rd
• Clinical Care (including numbers of primary care physicians, dentists and mental health providers): 6th
• Health Outcomes (including deaths from cancer and heart disease) : 6th

The overall ranking for Massachusetts was unchanged from the 2018 report, but has shown steady improvement in the overall ranking over the past 30 years.

• 2010 Ranking: 2nd
• 2000 Ranking: 5th
• 1990 Ranking: 11th

Among the highlights for Massachusetts were the following statistics:

• In the past three years, drug deaths increased 87 percent, from 15.7 to 29.3 deaths per 100,000 population
• Since 2012, immunization rates among children ages 19-35 months increased
from 70.7 percent to 82.1 percent
• In the past 10 years, chlamydia increased 71 percent, from 250.3 to 427.3 cases per 100,000 population
• Since 1990, violent crime decreased 40 percent, from 565 to 338 offenses per 100,000 population
• Since 2012, diabetes increased from 8.0 percent to 8.6 percent of adults

Here are some other highlights from the national report:

Vermont ranked as the healthiest state in America for 2019, the researchers found, followed by Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut and Utah.

At the other end of the rankings, Mississippi was the lowest-ranked state in the nation. The bottom five was rounded out by Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Oklahoma.

The report ranked all 50 states across 35 measures of health, such as e-cigarette use, housing problems and concentrated disadvantage.

The America’s Health Rankings Annual Report used 19 data sources to determine the most accurate information for each state, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavior Risk Surveillance System and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and Current Population Survey.

“The report provides a unique opportunity to track short- and long-term public health successes as well as identify current and emerging challenges at state and national levels,” authors of the United Health Foundation wrote. “When reading the report, think beyond the rankings; every state, whether first or last, has strengths and challenges.”

The full report is available on Americashealthrankings.org.