Americans are living longer than ever, but not as long as people in 41 other countries.
For decades, the United States has been slipping in rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve healthcare, nutrition and lifestyles.
A baby born in the United States in 2004 is expected to live an average of 77.9 years. That ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Researchers say several factors have contributed to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. A major one, they say, is that 47 million people in the United States lack health insurance, whereas Canada and many European countries have universal healthcare.
But “it’s not as simple as saying, ‘We don’t have national health insurance,’ ” said Samuel B. Harper, an epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal. “It’s not that easy.”
Among the other factors researchers cite: obesity, racial disparities, infant mortality rates.
Of course, you have to care about more than yourself or your own family – if you think the question is worth considering.
Two other recent discussions here and here.
Damn it, people! Stop dying!
Nice to see the topic broaden. Personally, I’d put infant mortality at a higher priority than universal healthcare (for citizens).
The French managed to sort that question years ago in an egalitarian fashion that makes us look more stratified by class than the Brits. And, not surprising (to me), it ended up less expensive than means-based bureaucratic solutions.
Of course there’s no discussion as to what causes these numbers…it’s astounding how far up the list we go for example, when one removes the high rate of death by gang on gang violence.
This number alone is not really a story, although fans of socialized medicine are desperately trying to make it a story.
simple solution
let the feds offer base health coverage, and let private industry continue to offer premium coverage, and let people people who buy private sector insurance be exempt from the health care tax
done. next?
Yes, better health care, but none of these other systems is as profitable to investors as ours is.
#3, malren:
If the US is really the greatest country in the world, we should be satisfied with no less than first place.
…Which would likely require us to have universal health care, among other things.
>>it’s astounding how far up the list we go for example, when
>>one removes the high rate of death by gang on gang violence.
OK. So astound us, malren. Provide some figures (if you can dredge them up). I kind of lean towards the causes cited in the article; shitty/ unavailable health care, obesity, high infant death rate, and poor health care for Blacks as being somewhat more important.
But, as always, I’m willing to change my mind if provided with facts.
So. Astound us.
These are generalized statistics. I can assure you that educated white people making over $100K a year with good insurance are on par with the rest of the world.
>>I can assure you that educated white people making over $100K
>>a year with good insurance are on par with the rest of the world.
Hey, that’s a left-handed compliment if I ever saw one. Rich white people are “on par” with a random sample (all incomes, all races) of people from other countries.
Why don’t you just narrow it down to “people who work for the Executive Branch of the U.S. government”? We’d kick total ass in that comparison.
The title on the poster says “universal health-care for all citizens”.
That’s fine – as long as it’s restricted to U.S. CITIZENS. Immigrants (legal or otherwise) or anyone who is not a U.S. citizen do not have a right to universal health-care in the U.S. If they want it, they must pay for it.
If this was enforced at every hospital E.R. there wouldn’t be an illegal immigrant problem.
>>mmigrants (legal or otherwise) or anyone who is not a U.S.
>>citizen do not have a right to universal health-care in the U.S.
And why would that be, Chuck? If they’re paying taxes just like you and me, why WOULDN’T they be entitled to taxpayer-funded health care, just like you and me?
Of do you just hate all furriners?
#3 – malren
“Of course there’s no discussion as to what causes these numbers…it’s astounding how far up the list we go for example, when one removes the high rate of death by gang on gang violence.”
Bingo!
>>Bingo!
Glad to see you’re gambling with the senior citizens.
As to the “astounding” rise of the US from the gutter of health-care quality it now wallows in when gang-on-gang violence is subtracted from the equation, the challenge remains:
Astound us. (With real numbers, not smarmy racist innuendo).
I should’ve added, comparing the nations as wholes quite meaningless when trying to sift out causative factors. But to get an honest, accurate picture of relative life expectancies, you need to restrict comparisons to well-defined socioeconomic subpops, e.g., ‘middle-class suburban Hispanics’ in each target country, or ‘lower-middle class non-Hispanic rural whites’… When that’s done, much of the advertised “disparity” vanishes.
>>When that’s done, much of the advertised “disparity” vanishes.
I reiterate, Pescadito: Astound us. Show us some hard data.
Even if you are right (which I am more skeptical of than you are of my God), saying that “the U.S. has shitty life expectancy because we’re all living in squalor” doesn’t sound like much of a defense.
Ah, Mustard! So we’ve been deceived, have we? The gangstas really ARE “bustin’ caps in each otha’s asses” with capguns, and not the Glocks and .40 Smiths that the racist media claim??
Good to know. Think I’ll take a stroll down MLK Blvd this evening. I’ll leave the Kevlar vest home. Thanx 4 the tip…
#2 Moss
Don’t you think universal healthcare might reduce infant mortalities just a little bit?
#3 Malren
You must be clocking some bad-ass street corner in East L.A to be so scared of gang violence bro. *thows gang sign*
>>Ah, Mustard! So we’ve been deceived, have we?
[sigh]. I shoulda known you’d say that.
If you have figures that boost the life expectancy of Americans once the “gangstas” bustin nines and .40s are taken out of the equations, go ahead. Astound us.
I’m waiting to be astounded. (hint: I can’t be astounded with racist rhetoric. Provide some numbers, or STFU. Thanks in advance).
#11 “Or do you just hate all furriners?”
– Actually I was simply commenting on the title of the poster. Since it said “universal health-care for all citizens”.
Wouldn’t that be a good start?
As the tax-paying immigrants: shouldn’t they also be entitled to vote? Otherwise it’s taxation without representation.
After careful selection of a target group; vetting of candidates, and massaging of the data much of the advertised “disparity” vanishes.
I took this great course in University called “lying with statistics”. It explained the whole process rather well, even better than Lauren did.
Of course when were discussing a national health care plan, national statistics seem somewhat relevant. Or is my logic failing today?
>>As the tax-paying immigrants: shouldn’t they also be entitled to vote?
Hey, you pay, you play.
Did you people even read the article. Even those quoted in it say that universal healthcare isn’t the answer.
If people seek care before a life threatening situation arises, they will live longer. Do all the studies you want. The high cost of health care is killing the US as a viable member of the advanced nation class. Greed from doctors, lawyers and insurance companies we all pay for is the reason. A one payer system is the answer, and the government should be the one payer. Doctors should be government employees.
Conservative rejection of government-supplied health-care usually comes down to not resistance to paying taxes, but the fear that there will be users of the system that would receive better benefits than they pay for in taxes, leaving people who pay a larger tax bill to carry the less affluent, which is a sentiment I can easily understand.
However, when our nation’s industries are competing against those in nations with the lower health-care cost associated with universal coverage, I wonder if it’s not time to consider health-care as infrastructure, like roads, etc.
Conservatives recognize that a healthy road system is good for the economy, why is it so strange a concept that a healthy workforce wouild also be good for the economy, generating lower absenteeism, greater productivity, etc?
How do they make this calculation? How can they calculate how long people today will live? Had anyone ever taken a look at life expectancy calculations, and compared to the actual numbers seventy years later?
That said, I would expect the US to drop down the list, as other countries actually start feeding themselves as they should have been all along. I suspect some other countries are naturally more hardy.
#14 I think the problem with that is going to be finding those “middle-class suburban Hispanics” in other countries. Maybe you can use Spain or Portugal for European countries, or whatever country of you choice in South or Central America.
#10
Considering that the historical basis of the American economy has always been slaves it’s no surprise coming from someone like you.
#23 – qsabe
Amen to that, brother. The profit motive must be removed from the healthcare equation before any real progress can be made.
#12 Lauren the Ghoti Homicide is .07% compared with 22.8% caused by cancer, according to one study (cited below) and rarely ranks among the top ten causes of death in America.
Lauren, thank you bringing to mind the dreadfully sad state of our violent culture, but the numbers you are hoping for simply don’t exist.
reference 1
reference 2
I think part of the problem with discussing “universal health-care” is that it means different things to different people.
For some it means complete health-care coverage – and and all medically necessary procedures, for everyone, regardless of income, citizenship or immigration status.
For others it means basic (limited) coverage, for (working) poor, U.S. citizens only.
And for others there are every possible combination between the two.