by RubaDub 31 Replies latest jw friends
Every time I see statistics comparing average lifespans amoung countries, why is the USA so far down the list???
With susposedly the best healthcare in the world (for those who can afford it), the last study I saw ranked the USA at number 38 in the world. Yet, we spend 4, 5 or even 10 times more per person on health care than most others.
What gives ???
Rub a Dub
because government run healthcare is inefficient, expensive, lead to shorter lifespans and will transform the country into a socialist faschist paradise.
oh wait...
i started a thread on this a while ago, never got a real answer.
Because a 60% majority of Democrats don't have the balls to pass a bill in the Senate.
From the beginning I knew it was stupid of them to try to pass Health Care with a super-majority. They should have gone straight for the 51% requirement of Reconciliation.
If they had done that we would have had Health Care passed months ago.
because government run healthcare is inefficient, expensive, lead to shorter lifespans and will transform the country into a socialist faschist paradise.
i started a thread on this a while ago, never got a real answer.
Bohm ....
Maybe you missed the premise of my question. I was questioning why so many countires that have some form of socialized medicine have populations that significantly outlive Americans. Even the Canadian system, that people here like to villify, has an average life expectance of 2 years longer than we here in the USA.
While we spend so much more per person, why are we currently getting so much less ?
Rub a Dub
for those who can afford it
I think you answered your own question.
For example I picked up a perscription the other day that would've cost $2000 if I didn't have insurance.
To put it coldly funds are not distributed to their maximum effectiveness. Ones that can afford it can spend hundreds of thousands even millions of dollars to try to extend their lives a little bit whereas some poor might be saved by a simple vaccine or something else comparitively really cheap.
Rub: I was being ironic :-). I live in a country with government run healthcare for all, and i much much prefer it over the american system - i think its cruel that poor people cant get proper help, it sound like the 3rd world! The reason i wrote it was that i brought it up a while ago when all the repuplicans was shouting SOCIALIST whenever anyone mentioned government run healthcare and i realized that I lived in a socialist utopia...
To be fair, i think much of the low lifespan in america has much to do with people eating to much fastfood, but i dont have any numbers to back that up with!
Let's face it...a good many 'Mercans don't exactly eat right or exercise. They smoke too much, drink too much, they eat shit 3 times a day, they eat junk in-between and don't ever bother to get regular check-ups.
We live in a land of plenty, yet we abuse ourselves in our excesses and bad habits. How many fresh market stands do you have in your town? How many McDonalds, BKs, KFCs, etc do you have?
Another factor, I personally believe, all the injections/chemicals that we put in our food doesn't help. We don't eat fresh fruit or vegetables. We eat chemically enhanced/engineered hybrids of fruit and veggies. The meat we eat comes from animals injected with growth hormones and then perservatives after slaughter so it doesn't spoil before it gets to your table.
Just my .02. Pass the cheezy poofs, please...
Every time I see statistics comparing average lifespans amoung countries, why is the USA so far down the list???
McDonalds
BurgerKing
Taco Bell
Buffalo Wings
Soda Pop
I don't think it as much to do with availabillity of healthcare so much to do with getting off their fat butts and stopping the bad habits. It is hard to give up french fries and all that greasy crap. It is hard to start a running program. It is hard to start an exercise program.
It is a lot easier to go to the doctor, say you're doing all of the above when you're not and go back home, flop on the sofa and eat a bucket of KFC.
How do I know? I listen to my Mom talk and then do the above.
Then I tell her I'm going for a run and she can't understand how I do it or why.
So, she has high cholestrol and all kinds of other issues.
Just like all millions of other Americans who sit on their butts and justify eating a multi-vitamin and say that walking to the car in the parking lot counts as exercise.
AMEN, VIII! I was going to say that, but you beat me to it. Most Americans are too busy eating their high carbohydrate, high fat comfort food.
:Why Do Americans Live Shorter Lives
What is meant by the statement? Are you talking about average life expectancy, or life expectancy starting from an older age, other than birth?
There will be a big difference depending upon how "shorter lives" is calculated.
There was a very old guy who was asked to tell his secret of longevity. He replied, "be sure and get yourself a good set of grandparents." DNA plays a big part, perhaps even a bigger part in longevity than health care.
In my family, 75 +/- a few years is the for the big dirt nap. It's so darn reliable, you can almost set your watch to it.
Farkel
