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A study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund (CF) recently found that Americans live the shortest lives and are the least healthy when compared to nine of our peer nations.
Americans spend more on healthcare than any other nation included in the study (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom), but boasts the lowest life expectancy of them all, according to the study. Regardless of the state, all Americans died younger after living less healthy lives when compared to each of the other nations. (POLL: Should the Government Reduce Regulations on Businesses?)
Some state-by-state variation was uncovered by the researchers. For example, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Washington all had life expectancies between 80 and 81, while the others varied between 75 to 80-years-old. West Virginia and Mississippi were the lowest, with just 75 years being the average lifespan.
What Causes This Problem?
The short answer is: avoidable mortality. But what does this mean? “Life expectancy is driven by many factors, including socioeconomic circumstances and influences outside countries’ public health and care delivery systems. Still, policy choices related to health care access as well as how care is delivered matter, and they affect people’s health. We can evaluate this impact by counting premature deaths from causes related to public health and health care interventions,” the researchers wrote. (POLL: Do You Believe That Social Connections and Relationships Positively Affect Your Overall Wellbeing?)
Avoidable mortality in this regard is defined as “deaths before age 75 from conditions that are either preventable through effective public health and primary prevention (before the onset of disease) or treatable when they’re detected early and effective care management is provided. Examples include deaths from diabetes, certain infections, breast and colon cancer, appendicitis, and renal failure.”
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