Brett Wilkins reports for Common Dreams on new data from the federal government on life expectancy in the US. We continue to live shorter lives than people in every other developed nation. Advocates for a government-run national health care system argue that it’s time that the our government moves away from for-profit health care and guarantees health care for all Americans under one single system.
Life expectancy in the US is up 1.1 years according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It was 77.5 in 2022, the most recent year for which we have data. It’s still significantly lower than dozens of other countries.
Cancer, heart disease, injuries and Covid-19 were most common causes of death in 2022. We lost 1.2 million lives to Covid-19. With guaranteed universal health care, we might have cut that number down by 338,000 to fewer than 900,000 lives, according to one study.
In 2020 and 2021, US life expectancy fell, in large part as a result of Covid-19. But, in 2019, life expectancy was 1.3 years higher than it was in 2022, 78.8 years. It should go without saying that the US spends significantly more per person on health care than other wealthy countries. Every other wealthy nation has guaranteed health care for all its citizens.
For-profit health care is not good for patient health. Eagan Kemp of Public Citizen advocates: “We must keep making the point that profit-driven healthcare is not only worse for patients—it’s a national embarrassment. Our leaders must act to kick insurance companies to the curb and enact Medicare for All now.”
Not only does guaranteed health care for all deliver longer life expectancies and better patient outcomes overall, it costs a lot less than our profit-driven health care system. The Congressional Budget Office determined that guaranteed health care for all would cost as much as $650 billion less than we currently spend, back in 2020. It also found that without healthcare coverage, 68,000 people in the US die every year. Our health care system also drives millions of families into medical bankruptcy and financial distress.
In the words of the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal: “There is a solution to this health crisis—a popular one that guarantees healthcare to every person as a human right and finally puts people over profits and care over corporations. That solution is Medicare for All—everyone in, nobody out.”
Here’s more from Just Care:
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