U.S. healthcare system blamed for life expectancy drop

[Chris]

The study notes that in 1950, the US ranked fifth among leading industrialised nations for female life expectancy at birth, but only 46th in 2008.

It finds that US healthcare spending increased at nearly twice the rate of that in other wealthy nations between 1970 and 2002, with the increased spending corresponding with worsening survival rates relative to the other countries studied.

"In most cases, the relative US performance deteriorated from decade to decade," wrote authors Peter Muennig and Sherry Glied of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

They note the countries to which the US is compared - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK - all provide universal healthcare coverage.

BBC News - US healthcare 'to blame' for poor life expectancy rates

 

[Sallow]

The US probably has the best medical technology, medicine and doctors..but really lousy access to them.

 

[Revere]

That's not accurate. Americans' high accident rates and race related disease states accounts for almost all the differences in life expectancy.

 

[boedicca]

Adjusted for auto related accidents (Americans drive far more miles per capita), there is no meaningful difference.

Also, comparing a large country with a great deal of immigration to small, ethnically homogenous ones is rather specious.

 

[boedicca]

And here's the money shot revealing the "rigor" of their research methodology: the just gathered up data on the web.

Life-Expectancy Calculations We used Wolfram Alpha—an online "data engine," which allows various types of calculations using rigorous, scientific tools—to calculate survival probabilities for people between ages 45–60 and ages 65–80 in all of the countries under study.20 This engine uses compiled mortality data from the WHO. The methods used for estimating survival probabilities are described in detail elsewhere.21

 

[Revere]

Adjusted for auto related accidents (Americans drive far more miles per capita), there is no meaningful difference.

Also, comparing a large country with a great deal of immigration to small, ethnically homogenous ones is rather specious.

Yes.

Don't forget homicides, sadly.

Take a look at what diseases kill the African American population, as well.

 

[Revere]

Now, someone embarrass themself with "infant mortality rates," not knowing (or caring) the US and the rest of the world don't count live births the same way.

 

[boedicca]

I was just going to make the same point about Infant Mortality.

The researchers in the OP just scraped data from a variety of sources which most likely do not have the same standards for classification and rigor.

Just as infant mortality rate comparisons are bogus due to the fact that severely premature babies are counted as stillborn in may countries while the U.S. counts them as live births, there are likely similar data equivalency issues with this internet scrape of data.

 

[AllieBaba]

Women have low life expectancy rates in the US thanks to domestic violence.

Let's perpetuate that cycle by encouraging more women to have out-of-wedlock babies that are raised on the street with no positive male role models! Yeah!

 

[AllieBaba]

"Homicide is among the six leading causes of death for persons aged 1--44 years and accounts for approximately 18,000 deaths annually in the United States (1). The majority of homicides are committed by persons known to the victim (2). Approximately one in three homicides of females is committed by current or former spouses or boyfriends, a group collectively referred to as intimate partners (3). Among male homicide victims, 5% are killed by intimate partners."

Surveillance for Homicide Among Intimate Partners ---United States, 1981--1998

 

[Ravi]

Women have low life expectancy rates in the US thanks to domestic violence.

Let's perpetuate that cycle by encouraging more women to have out-of-wedlock babies that are raised on the street with no positive male role models! Yeah!

Who is encouraging women to have out-of-wedlock babies? Oh, right...the people that are against the morning after pill and abortion.

 

[Revere]

Women have low life expectancy rates in the US thanks to domestic violence.

Let's perpetuate that cycle by encouraging more women to have out-of-wedlock babies that are raised on the street with no positive male role models! Yeah!

Who is encouraging women to have out-of-wedlock babies? Oh, right...the people that are against the morning after pill and abortion.

Is the morning after pill and abortion not readily available in this country?

Does an unwed mother get more aid with four fatherless children or one?

 

[AllieBaba]

Women have low life expectancy rates in the US thanks to domestic violence.

Let's perpetuate that cycle by encouraging more women to have out-of-wedlock babies that are raised on the street with no positive male role models! Yeah!

Who is encouraging women to have out-of-wedlock babies? Oh, right...the people that are against the morning after pill and abortion.

No, the people who tell children that they are expected to have sex before marriage, and the state will pay for their babies.

It's called "incentive to breed".

 

[AllieBaba]

Women have low life expectancy rates in the US thanks to domestic violence.

Let's perpetuate that cycle by encouraging more women to have out-of-wedlock babies that are raised on the street with no positive male role models! Yeah!

Who is encouraging women to have out-of-wedlock babies? Oh, right...the people that are against the morning after pill and abortion.

Is the morning after pill and abortion not readily available in this country?

Does an unwed mother get more aid with four fatherless children or one?

You won't get any sense out of Ravtard on this topic. We have learned to accept her as she is. Nobody even really comments on her lapses of reason anymore.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The study notes that in 1950, the US ranked fifth among leading industrialised nations for female life expectancy at birth, but only 46th in 2008.

It finds that US healthcare spending increased at nearly twice the rate of that in other wealthy nations between 1970 and 2002, with the increased spending corresponding with worsening survival rates relative to the other countries studied.

"In most cases, the relative US performance deteriorated from decade to decade," wrote authors Peter Muennig and Sherry Glied of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

They note the countries to which the US is compared - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK - all provide universal healthcare coverage.

BBC News - US healthcare 'to blame' for poor life expectancy rates

So, we should spend less money on health care so we can live longer. Why don't we just eliminate it altogether and live forever?

 

[Primate]

The only numbers that would be specifically relevant to health care policy is survival rate of medical conditions independent of insurance. In this Study the key words are “We speculate” they themselves use, which is practically admitting they’re using the numbers to bolster an agenda rather then an actual analysis of the data.

The key to most life expectancy numbers are risk factors. If you have a population with a considerable level of disposable income they’re more likely to be partaking in higher risk activities. As for the higher cost factors, the U.S. population uses elective medical procedures more then any other country, as many other studies have shown, and is another attribute of the level of disposable income. Yet if you look at the survival rates of individual medical conditions in each country the U.S. is consistently number one.

A good example of relevance when it comes to the data is vehicle accidents where the primary factor is not the type of healthcare system or if you have insurance but the density of surgeons. In other words it was how fast you could get some one to the needed treatment with the appropriate medical staff.

What is relevant is the quality of patient care once someone is in the system and again the U.S. ranks number one in every area.