Why a singular focus on increasing health coverage won't deliver the health gains we seek, and detracts from more productive efforts to reform our healthcare system
Another great article, Liam! I'm just discovering your blog and binge reading it :)
You probably read this when it came out earlier this year, but to me, this data crunching on US life expectancy by a Financial Times reporter was eye opening.
His summary aligns with what you're writing about here and in your essay on the importance of behavioral factor in health:
"Worse access to healthcare will certainly be playing a part too, but the types and ages of deaths suggest the US’s life expectancy problem is as much (if not more) a social problem than a health problem in terms of the way we should think about it.
To put it another way: it’s certainly true that being unable to access/afford healthcare costs American lives, but the bigger problem is that Americans require so much more healthcare (due to poor diet), and tens of thousands are killed without healthcare even being a factor."
I was struck not just by the impact of obesity, but also the impact of road deaths. That's an area I was only vaguely aware of, but one that has a huge impact on US life expectancy, as we as a country just are huge failures in not killing each other on the roads.
Another great article, Liam! I'm just discovering your blog and binge reading it :)
You probably read this when it came out earlier this year, but to me, this data crunching on US life expectancy by a Financial Times reporter was eye opening.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1641799627128143873
His summary aligns with what you're writing about here and in your essay on the importance of behavioral factor in health:
"Worse access to healthcare will certainly be playing a part too, but the types and ages of deaths suggest the US’s life expectancy problem is as much (if not more) a social problem than a health problem in terms of the way we should think about it.
To put it another way: it’s certainly true that being unable to access/afford healthcare costs American lives, but the bigger problem is that Americans require so much more healthcare (due to poor diet), and tens of thousands are killed without healthcare even being a factor."
I was struck not just by the impact of obesity, but also the impact of road deaths. That's an area I was only vaguely aware of, but one that has a huge impact on US life expectancy, as we as a country just are huge failures in not killing each other on the roads.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1641799922583326720/photo/1