"Life expectancy is not some number to be toyed with"
Actually when you try to use it to prove that our health care is better or worse. This article discusses some of the variables that are overlooked.
biggovhealth.org
Myth: Americans don’t live as long as their counterparts in Canada and Europe
Fact: While the overall life expectancy of Americans is lower than that of people other nations, it the result of higher rates of homicides, accidents, and obesity, factors that are at best tangentially related to the health care system.
The homicide rate in the U.S. was 5.9 per 100,000 people in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In contrast, it was 1.99 per 100,000 in Canada, 1.66 in France, .98 in Germany, and 1.63 in England and Wales (approximately 1.71 including Scotland.) 1
In the U.S., in 2006 there were 14.24 fatalities per 100,000 people from auto accidents.2 Canada had 9.25 fatalities2, France 7.43, Germany 6.194, and 5.39 in Great Britain (U.K. excluding North Ireland)5. In general, injuries of all kinds accounted for 47 deaths per 100,000 in the U.S. in 2002 but 26 in the U.K., 29 in Germany and 34 in Canada. Only France, at 48 per 100,000 was equivalent.6 |
