What underlies life expectancy? The latter has something to do with health care. But DNA and similar factors have an influence. Such as diet and everyday eating habits. Along with ethnicity considerations.
According to the CIA World Factbook's 2009 estimate, U.S. life expectancy is 78.11 years. In Britain it's 79.01. In Taiwan's it’s 77.96.
Is the best explanation for this is how they pay for medical care? Or diet and culture? Does Japan's health-care system explain Japanese longevity?
According to a 2006 study by Harvard's School of Public Health, disparities within countries do exist. Asian-American women have a life expectancy of 87 years. African-American men have a life expectancy of 69. The healthiest white people in America are in the low-income Northern Plains states. So health-care systems are not the biggest factors.
However, the higher life expectancy, the more we will spend on health care. Older folks are a major factor of cost. The president has said the "chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here."
When it comes to civil liberties, liberals are often distrustful of government power. But, for some reason, they prefer the U.S. providing "guidance" on which lives are more valuable than others.
Be warned: A government charged with extending life expectancy will meddle with health care, and also with what we eat, and how we live. As well as how we die.
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