Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

ourworldindata.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 205 posts

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#171

Post by triceratops »

voodootrucker wrote: post #61
xwdv wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which half made you happier?

Due to work, I spent: - 3 months in Japan - 3 Months in Germany - 3 months in the US - 3 months in India The transition was alarming. I see bits of both Germany and India in the US. Unfortunately (having grown up in America) I see the trend as towards India. I don't mean this as a cultural slight, but as a cultural observation. I've seen high-trust vs low-trust societies brought up many times on HN. Traffic was most…

Having also spent some time in all 3 of those countries, I agree with your take. It's very well-elucidated.

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#172

Post by danielscrubs »

rayiner wrote: post #159

It’s interesting to break this down by state: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... . As a benchmark, life expectancy in Germany is about 81 years, while Sweden is a bit over 82. In Minnesota, it’s 80.9, which isn’t far off. New York is over 81, Massachusetts is 80.5. Even less wealthy states like Arizona, North Dakota, and Utah are at 79.9. It’s also interesting to break this down by ethnic…

Probably more immigrants in the Asian subgroup that brings good eating habits and if they could move there it probably means wealth. Have been quite a few studies showing that if you move to any country, you get quite a lot of positive effects comparing to staying as you select for a driven personality.

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#173

Post by pintxo »

voodootrucker wrote: post #61
xwdv wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which half made you happier?

Due to work, I spent: - 3 months in Japan - 3 Months in Germany - 3 months in the US - 3 months in India The transition was alarming. I see bits of both Germany and India in the US. Unfortunately (having grown up in America) I see the trend as towards India. I don't mean this as a cultural slight, but as a cultural observation. I've seen high-trust vs low-trust societies brought up many times on HN. Traffic was most…

Side node: Just to prevent any life expectancy changing surprises:

> with confidence that the person in the right lane will never, ever change lanes without a signal and mirror check

Always expect someone to sleep at the steering wheel and switch lanes at an instant without so much as using the signal. Especially when you are going 200kph.

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#174

Post by apexalpha »

rayiner wrote: post #148
Blahah wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't the same though. In most developed countries you don't have to worry about turning up to a hospital, for pregnancy or any reason. When a pregnant woman turns up to hospital in the UK (for example) she is absolutely not stressed about the potential cost of the care. If something goes wrong, she gets world class care at no cost to her. If some other medical problem is discovered while she's there, it wi…

Health care is not free at the point of use “in most developed countries.” The UK NHS is an exception. Also, you’re comparing apples and oranges a bit. In the US, an epidural is standard, which requires the expensive services of an anesthesiologist. Meanwhile, the UK NHS is famous for steering women away from epidurals. In the US, getting a private room after giving birth is standard, while in the NHS you’ll be in a…

I think the exception for the NHS is that it is a single government organisation fully paid for by regular taxes. Think about your armed forces, for comparison.

While there are many that don't have this kind of setup I don't know any country where care isn't free at the point of use. (Except for maybe your deductibles).

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#175

Post by xyzzyz »

rayiner wrote: post #151
MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would rather be uninsured and take my chances than work a low waged job and pay for Obamacare. $500/month for a single person, highest deductible plan is ludicrous. Thats fucking 80-90% rent for many people where I live...if not 100%+.

Where are you? Here in Maryland gold level plan for a single person age 36 making $35,000 a year is about $250/month, with $1,750 deductible. In France or Germany, you’d pay about 10% of your income in health insurance tax, so this is quite comparable.

In Germany, the figure is 14% of your gross salary, and in France it’s over 20%.

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#176

Post by jobigoud »

roenxi wrote: post #102

This is an interesting study, but there are so many influences that the article can't cover (probably due to its length) that it is a struggle to even draw questions from it. Everyone dies of something. The fact that US people die from things at a different ratio from other countries is interesting, relevant and uninformative on the topic of life expectancy. Picking out obesity - the fact that US obesity rate deaths…

> Are they old fat people, or young fat people?

Do old obese people exist in the first place? What is the longevity record for an obese person?

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#177

Post by apexalpha »

meowster wrote: post #166
reidjs wrote: post #3

For those short on time: “smoking, obesity, homicides, opioid overdoses, suicides, road accidents, and infant deaths. In addition to this, deeper poverty and less access to healthcare mean Americans at lower incomes die at a younger age than poor people in other rich countries.” Still a good article

I wonder what someone's life expectancy would be without the personally-avoidable things such as smoking, obesity, overdoses, and suicides. Homicides, road accidents, and infant deaths are harder to control as an individual.

Personally avoidable, yes. Product of society, also.

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#178

Post by MagnumOpus »

yellowstuff wrote: post #62
narrator wrote: post #7

We spend double, as a percentage of GDP, what any other rich country spends on health care, so that's not it.

A random blogger who no one's ever heard of explains this in excruciating detail and very persuasively: https://randomcriticalanalysis.com/why-conventional-wisdom-o... He agrees with the linked article that lifestyle factors are what drives the worse health outcomes in the US relative to other wealthy countries. They're not primarily driven by differences in access to or effectiveness in health care. He also makes th…

> lifestyle factors are what drives the worse health outcomes

So in addition to healthcare reform, the US needs public policy reform - to tackle obesity, prescription drug abuse and to tackle unskilled driving creating traffic deaths.

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#179

Post by MagnumOpus »

TMWNN wrote: post #101
viking1066 wrote: post #40

Compare wealth and life expectancy of any ethnicity living in USA with the population living in their previous habitat, and the US population comes out on top. Japanese Americans for example have higher life expectancy than Japanese in Japan, and I expect the same would be true for Ethiopians. This shows the superiority of the American system. I need to second the previous comment that this article is either based on…

>Compare wealth and life expectancy of any ethnicity living in USA with the population living in their previous habitat, and the US population comes out on top. >Japanese Americans for example have higher life expectancy than Japanese in Japan, and I expect the same would be true for Ethiopians. Similarly, Americans do well on PISA compared to their ethnic relatives. ( https://www.unz.com/isteve/the-new-2018-pisa-sch…

> Americans do well on PISA compared to their ethnic relatives

That analysis is not by an expert, but by an MBA who is selling his own brand of "analysis" to the alt-right crowd.

In this case, he compares the white part of the US against their "ethnic cousins" without taking into account that just about every single western European country has 20% non-European immigrants who (as opposed to underprivileged US blacks) often aren't even native speakers...

Re: Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

#180

Post by krysp »

souprock wrote: post #157
ZDurmPhoto wrote: post #67

Just like @TuringNYC,I spent the early part of my life in the lower half of socio-economic ladder. With a bit of luck (and yes, work), I extracted myself from this group. I'm not rich, but I have zero debt. I own a house, multiple vehicles, and an 4 season expedition camper - free and clear. I have a rewarding and unusual career. By contrast, the entirety of my close and extended family lives in poverty. Bankruptcy,…

I don't agree that "access to healthcare, decent work, and basic housing" would have changed the outcome of a "lethal encounter with police after speeding". Doing that in a Bugatti Veyron is still lethal.

That depends on the cause of death. If a "lethal encounter with police after speeding" is gunshot wound whilst being detained, a Bugatti veyron might allow you to avoid that outcome. No police vehicle could keep up, unless they brought in air support.

Also, the police are less likely to violently arrest you if you're driving a supercar, I'd wager

Post reply on HN