We read at healthsystemtracker.org that when we compare the life expectancy at age 65 in the USA, against the comparable countries of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. that the United States, despite spending more per capita on healthcare then any of these other countries, and in some cases, spending more than twice the amount per capita, that somehow the United States life expectancy from age 65 falls well short of these comparable countries, in which the comparable countries in aggregate from age 65, have, as noted at healthsystemtracker.org we find thereby a life expectancy of 7.2% greater for woman than the United States, and 6.0% greater for men than the United States.
For those that live in the United States, they should be disturbed first on the level of the fact that more and more money dedicated to healthcare doesn’t seem to push the needle all that far or even to matter, and quite obviously leaves the United States looking like a country that needs to seriously consider changing its healthcare system from top to bottom, because the results for those that are our senior citizens, is incredibly disappointing, as most people when reaching their retirement years, would expect and would desire that those sunset years be not only long but also years of satisfaction and joy, but the results indicate that American senior citizens will die sooner, which is the second fact, which is deeply distressing for not just those senior citizens, but for all of us, that expect and desire to live long and healthy lives, and to fairly enjoy the fruits of our labor.
While there are probably a fair number of Americans who understand that not all is well, the proof that their intuition is correct is demonstrated by the fact that life expectancy for our senior citizens trails comparable nations by a meaningful amount and this doesn’t seem to make sense when we take into consideration that America is not only known as the breadbasket of the world, but is also, in aggregate, the richest nation in the world, with supposedly the freest people in the world, and the best governance in the world. All of this would presuppose that not all is right within America because its health isn’t near where it needs to be, and if America were a true leader, it would lead all other comparable nations in the good health of its citizens, but it does not, and it also doesn’t appear that this will change anytime soon.
What the United States should or should not prioritize, is something that this governance needs to reevaluate because when the quality of our health does not seem to be something that this governance believes is its responsibility to constructively do something of merit to make it to become the best in all the world, then what is the point of having all the money that America has, if at the end of our days, we aren’t even here to enjoy such truly?