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  1. Natural Life Expectancy in the United States

    This article from 2007 details a statistical problem. The US has more death from acccidents and murder (among other causes) than its peers. US infant mortality is higher primarily due to a strict reporting standard (all births, no matter how premature) and more premature and defective births from aggressive in-vitro fertalization.

    Total mortality is a bad measure of medical effectiveness. One might think that such organizations as the World Health Organization wanted the US to look bad. A government pushing ObamaCare might also want the (former?) capitalist health system to look bad.

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    [edited] The CDC’s life expectancy figures also incorporate non-natural causes of death, such as those resulting from fatal injuries, which include motor vehicle accidents, falls, accidental poisonings, and homicides.

    These factors represent the leading causes of premature death in the United States for all ages up through 44 years old. Premature deaths caused by these non-natural factors result in a lower life expectancy figure for the U.S., which gives a somewhat misleading picture of the general health of U.S. individuals.

    Without accounting for the incidence of fatal injuries, the United States ties for 14th of the 16 nations listed. But once fatal injuries are taken into account, U.S. “natural” life expectancy from birth ranks first among the richest nations of the world.
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    EasyOpinions.blogspot.com

  2. There is still a declining trend down in the US vs. the OECD comparable data. We aren’t getting our money’s worth and continue to slip down the list…

    Healthcare spending accounted for 17.7% of GDP in the United States in 2011 which is more than eight percentage points higher than the OECD average of 9.3%. (Netherlands (at 11.9% of GDP), France (11.6%) Germany (11.3%) Canada (11.2%) Australia (10.8%) New Zealand (10.3%).

    The United States spent $8508 USD on health per capita in 2011, two-and-a-half times more than the OECD average of $3339 USD (adjusted for purchasing power parity). (Netherlands (at $5,099 USD), France ($4,118) Germany ($4,495) Canada ($4,522) Australia ($3,800) New Zealand ($3,182).

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