According to the United Health Foundation’s annual report, Massachusetts is the seventh healthiest state in the nation — moving up two spots from last year — because more people are covered by health insurance.
The UHF — a non-profit organization funded by the UnitedHealth Group — considered factors such as infant mortality rates, prevalence of obesity, immunization and per capita health spending into its report.
“I think that Massachusetts has good healthcare because of many factors,” said Donna Rheaume, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. “The landmark healthcare legislation that Romney recently signed will give thousands of uninsured residents quality healthcare.”
Rheaume said the quality of Massachusetts’s healthcare and Boston facilities is well-known by those outside of the state.
“Boston and Massachusetts have some of the best healthcare centers in the country,” she said. “We are a leader in research and care. People come from all over the world to come to our hospitals and have access to our healthcare.”
Rheaume added that the department is prepared to deal with infectious disease outbreaks and, “We’ve always been a leader in disease surveillance according to the [Center for Disease Control and Prevention].”
However, Rheaume said the high ranking will not make anyone complacent about the quality of healthcare in the state.
“We’re always striving to improve health, but this study is good news for the people of Massachusetts,” Rheaume said.
However, some skeptics — including SPH professor Allen Sager — question whether the ranking uses accurate criteria to address which states are the healthiest.
“Since we’re spending almost $10,000 per person on healthcare in Massachusetts — the most expensive in the world — I hope we’re getting something for our money,” Sager said. “However, most of the things the study uses to evaluate health, such as obesity, smoking and immunizations, don’t actually measure if you’re healthy. They measure things that they believe would affect your health.”
Sager said he is also unsure if the study shows the reality of the healthcare situation in America, citing other states with similar rankings.
“Utah spends the least amount of money on their healthcare, but they have the same mortality rate as Massachusetts,” he said. “We’re spending 55 percent more per person than Utah. You’d think we should be getting more benefits for our money.”
Sager also said the cost of health insurance is rising every day.
“The cost of insurance is now more than the minimum wage and people are often unable to afford it,” he said.
Paula Quatromoni, a professor at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said Massachusetts has quality programs to help those people unable to afford healthcare.
“Prevention is really what it’s about — not just treatment when people do get sick,” Quatromoni said. “If you have access to so much medical expertise, you are more likely to go in for a checkup or a mammogram. For some people who aren’t insured, this may not be affordable, but the Boston Medical Center and other organizations do a great job of giving health care to people without insurance.”
Quatromoni said the quality of healthcare is closely related to the level of education in the state.
“I think we are a very health-conscious state,” Quatromoni said. “The Northeast has a high concentration of educated people and colleges or universities. There are definitely links between better education, better health and a better quality of life.”
She added that the government is a big part of the healthy mentality of many people in the state.
“The government is also helping citizens of Massachusetts make healthy decisions with the Boston BestBites program, which offers healthier meals in restaurants,” Quatromoni said. “That doesn’t happen in other states where there’s a bad food chain on every corner. Having Mayor [Thomas] Menino behind a program like this really brings great visibility to the issue. It gets integrated much quicker here than in other places in the country.”