Despite leading all states overall in the 2025 Scorecard on State Health System Performance compiled by The Commonwealth Fund, Massachusetts ranks near the bottom on several measures of care for adults age 65 and older, including preventable hospitalizations and hospital readmissions.

Massachusetts was at the top of the scorecard based on 50 measures of health care access, affordability, prevention and treatment, avoidable hospital use and costs, health outcomes and healthy behaviors, income disparity, and equity. Hawaii, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia rounded out the top five with Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and West Virginia as the lowest-ranked states.

According to the Commonwealth Fund’s research, Massachusetts topped scorecard categories labeled “Access & Affordability” and “Healthy Lives,” combined with a second overall ranking in “Prevention & Treatment” and “Racial Health Equity.” The state’s worst performance came in readmissions for older adults (age 65 and older), including 30-day hospital readmission rates, preventable hospitalizations, and skilled nursing facility patients with a hospital readmission.

In fact, Massachusetts ranked last among states for hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries and 48th for “admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.”

More details and information are available in the full report and state profiles here.