Life Expectancy Falling for Many Americans

While Europeans and Canadians are living longer than their parents, the opposite is true for millions of Americans, according to Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation: 

When compared to the international frontier for life expectancy, US counties range from being 16 calendar years ahead to more than 50 behind for women. For men, the range is from 15 calendar years ahead to more than 50 calendar years behind. This means that some counties have a life expectancy today that nations with the best health outcomes had in 1957.

While the USA ranks number 36 among nations in tems of life expectancy (Germany ranks 20), that doesn't begin to tell the story.  There are huge regional disparities in the US which reflect levels of poverty, lack of health insurance, lack of education, racial profile, etc: 

Die Gesundheitsausgaben pro Kopf sind etwa doppelt so hoch wie in europäischen Ländern, allerdings sind bislang viele Millionen Menschen überhaupt nicht versichert, was neben den großen Einkommensunterschieden ein wesentlicher Grund für die große Ungleichheit der Lebenserwartung sein dürfte. In den Counties, in denen die Zahl der Menschen mit einer Krankenversicherung am niedrigsten ist, ist auch die Lebenserwartung am niedrigsten. Für die Verlangsamung oder auch den Rückgang der Lebenssterblichkeit könnten neben zahlreichen anderen Gründen die wachsende Zahl der Fett- und Dickleibigen oder der Mangel an Ärzten für die medizinische Grundversorgung verantwortlich sein, so dass hoher Blutzucker oder hoher Blutdruck nicht ausreichend behandelt werden.

("Per capita health care expenditure is about double what exists in Europe, however up to now millions of people are uninsured, which, along with the large income disparities is a reason for the unequal life expectancy.  In those counties with the lowest level of insured the life expectancy is also the lowest. Some of the reasons why life expectancy has stalled or is on the decline would include the epidemic of obesity and the lack of doctors for basic preventive care, so that high blood sugar levels and high blood pressure are left untreated." )

At least 59 million Americans have no health insurance at this time.  President Obama signed the Affordable Health Care Act which would require all Americans to purchase insurance by 2014.  The Republican Party and its Tea Party base have vowed to repeal this act and has gone much further in by proposing the elimination of Medicare.  If they are successful, the number of uninsured Americans would double from the current level.  But who cares?  These people are poor and it's their own fault if they get sick:

Die Vereinigten Staaten sind im eigentlichen Sinne des Wortes keine Demokratie, sondern eine Regierung der Reichen, durch die Reichen und für die Reichen. Es kann keine Lösung der Probleme der arbeitenden Menschen in den USA und auf der ganzen Welt geben, die nicht mit der Enteignung der gewaltigen Vermögen dieser gesellschaftlichen Schicht beginnt.

(The US is not a democracy in the true sense of the word, but rather a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. There cannot be a solution fo the problems of working people in hte uS and in the whole world with out first expropriating the tremendous wealth of this social stratum.)

Don't hold your breath.  The Republican solution to the health care crisis for poor Americans is simple and highly cost effectiveL "Don't get sick.  But if you do, die quickly!"