US 42nd in Life Expectancy
My friend and fellow JC alum Heather writes to share this tidbit of statistical joy:
AmericaBLOG.com: US 42nd in Life Expectancy.
A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics….Forty countries, including Cuba, Taiwan and most of Europe had lower infant mortality rates than the U.S. in 2004….
“Even if we focused only on those four things, we would go along way toward improving health care in the United States,” Murray said. “The starting point is the recognition that the U.S. does not have the best health care system. There are still an awful lot of people who think it does.”