Universal Care Produces Bigger Life Expectancy Improvement

In work done a year earlier than that I've been looking at recently, Gerard F. Anderson, Ph.D. and Patricia Markovich of Johns Hopkins, did more detailed analyses of mortality variances among nations for The Commonwealth Fund.  In the study, entitled Multinational Comparisons of Health System Data, 2008, the authors report the change in life expectancy at birth for the 20 year period 1986-2006.  For the period, covering nearly a generation, the United States showed the smallest improvement among the nine countries compared as you can see in this graph.  (Click to enlarge graph.)

In another look at relative change in life expectancy between countries, the authors looked at how life expectancy at age 65 has changed over the same 20 year period.  Here, the United States' relative position improves modestly, but still shows the eighth smallest change among nine nations for the period.  (Click to enlarge graph.)

These data support an argument in favor of health reform.  In nations which have universal coverage, life expectancies are generally longer than in the United States, as we saw here.  And, as noted today, progress in improving life expectancy has been better in countries with universal coverage than the progress made in the United States during the period from 1986 to 2006.  I expect that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will begin to bring some of these benefits to America, when the law takes full effect.

U. S. Has Lower Life Expectancy

Johns Hopkins researchers Gerard F. Anderson's and Patricia Markovich's study Multinational Comparisons of Health System Data, 2009, includes the following graph showing life expectancy at birth for 12 countries.  The U. S. ranks last, having the shortest life expectancy for males and females among the 12 countries compared.  (Click to enlarge graph.)

Using data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, I have developed a graph to show life expectancy at age 65.  While the U. S. position improves modestly, it still ranks near the bottom of the 12 countries measured. (Click to enlarge graph.)

It is reasonable to expect that as more Americans come to receive the benefits of health insurance coverage and preventive care through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, our life expectancies should increase.