Yet how much people spend on health care seems to have little to do with how long they live. Hawaii has longest-lived residents at 80 years life expectancy, whereas Washington, D.C. residents have a life expectancy of only 72 years, a gap of eight years.
The major differences are not in infant mortality or the life expectancy of elderly people, but in the number of people who die as youths or in middle age.
- Longest life expectancy: Asian-American women in Bergen County, N.J. live the longest with an average life expectancy of 91 years.
- Shortest life expectancy: Native Americans in several rural counties in South Dakota have a life expectancy of 66.6 years.
- That is a 24.4-year difference between the two county groups.
- New York State ranks a surprisingly poor 19th, with an average life expectancy of 77.7 years.
- Connecticut does better at 4th place with an average life expectancy of 78.7 years.
- New Jersey ranks in 23rd place with a life expectancy of 77.5 years.
The research was by the Harvard University Initiative for Global Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, led by Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray. They conclude that life expectancy is primarily determined by the prevalence of chronic illnesses – for example, heart disease, cancer and injuries from alcohol-related traffic accidents. The found little relationship between life expectancy and income, infant mortality rates, violence, or lack of health insurance.
My sources were a Business Week article and the September issue of the medical journal of the Public Library of Science, PLoS Medicine.
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