Mass. life expectancy rises, breaking trend
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Marylou Sudders, the state's secretary of health and human services
Earlier this month, federal data showed a continuing worrisome trend: The national life expectancy rate had fallen again, thanks in large part to drug addiction and a soaring suicide rate.
In Massachusetts, however, there is good news.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said Wednesday the state's life expectancy rate rose to 80 years and eight months in 2016, running against the national trend. Nationwide, the life expectancy is 78 years and seven months.
Marylou Sudders, the state's secretary of health and human services, attributed the rise to the state's universal healthcare coverage. The more promising statistics show working together at state and local levels can improve the health and well-being of Massachusetts residents, she said.
The Massachusetts life expectancy rate peaked in 2012 and 2013 at 80 years and 11 months. In more recent years, the state and others nationally have struggled with two troubling trends: opioid deaths and climbing suicide rates.
Massachusetts recorded roughly 1,500 opioid deaths in the first nine months of the year alone, keeping pace with the most recent few years.
The state's overall drug overdose death rate of 31.8 deaths per 100,000 people last year far surpassed the national average of 21.7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month. The Massachusetts rate was 10th worst in the nation.
In the most recent three-year period, the suicide rate in Massachusetts was 10 per 100,000 people, the third lowest nationally, according to the CDC. Nationwide, the average was 15 per 100,000.
But with a 35-percent increase, Massachusetts was among the states that saw the sharpest jump in suicides.
"We have more to do, especially in bringing an end to the opioid crisis, which has had such a deadly impact across the state," Sudders said.
The state's life expectancy had dropped in both 2014 and 2015 before recovering in 2016.
Cancer was the leading cause of death for Massachusetts residents in 2016. Other major causes include heart disease and respiratory conditions.
Hispanic women had the highest life expectancy rate in Massachusetts at 89 years.
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