According to CDC data from December, the average life expectancy in the United States has decreased to 76.4 years, the lowest it has been in almost 20 years. On the Washington Post podcast WP Live, two experts from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—Dean Michelle Williams and Asaf Bitton of Ariadne Labs—discussed the issue.
In the podcast from April 10, Williams stated, “The numbers are shocking.” She pointed out that the United States has some of the highest rates of maternal and newborn mortality among upper-income nations, and that the country’s younger population is dying at a higher rate than that of people in other high-income nations.
Williams and Bitton agreed that the structure of the American health care system is largely to blame for the issue.
Bitton remarked, “We have an excellent sick care system that treats very ill people, but a very inadequate health care system.” He pointed out that a person’s ability to get health care depends on a number of variables, including where they live, whether they have health insurance, and their race or ethnicity. According to Bitton, these disparities imply that not everyone has access to the “upstream factors” that promote health, such as clean water, clean air, a decent place to live, a good education, and wholesome food.
Williams concurred. Despite being a leader in medical and health innovation, she stated that the United States differs from other high-income nations in that it prioritizes rescue care and acute care over funding, supporting.
According to Bitton, other nations with longer life expectancies than the US could serve as role models for the US. He stated, “Countries like Costa Rica and Portugal have made huge strides that we could learn from. They started by offering basic health coverage and health insurance to everyone and then integrated their public health and health care infrastructure.”
Williams emphasized that enhancing population health in the US could strengthen social and economic stability in addition to being the ethically correct thing to do. Bitton concurred. “We shouldn’t wait to invest in someone’s health until after they walk in the door and we take them to the emergency room,” he stated.
