MSNBC: Vote Democratic!-- Uh, We Mean here's a New Study about the US and Healthcare

Interesting propaganda/ article over at MSN: "U.S. ranks just 42nd in life expectancy." A major reason for this ranking according to the "experts" in the article? Lack of universal healthcare, of course!

Researchers said several factors have contributed to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. A major one is that 45 million Americans lack health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care, they say.

That's funny, two decades ago without universal healthcare, the article says the US ranked number 11 in life expectancy. So isn't it possible that something else is going on? Take a look at some of the comments to the article, there are a few reasonable people writing in who have some good questions and explanations for why the US's life expectancy stats tend to look low--here are a couple:

One of the major reasons why the U.S. ranks so low on the list in life expectancy is because, unlike nationalized healthcare countries, we try to save our preemie babies no matter what gestational age they are. In many nations w/ nationalized healthcare babies have to be at least 24 weeks gestational age or nothing will be done to sustain life. So if trying our best to save preemie babies ranks the U.S. low on the list then I say so be it.

What a pathetic study! There are no reported standards for controls.

1) US has a higher infant mortality rate and compares 13.7 for Black Americans as the same as Saudi Arabi. (Ummm, what about US teen pregnancy rates in the USA which are extremely high! Children born to teenage mothers are 1) under weight; 2) lower birth weights; 3) poor health to start life on; 4) live in substandard housing conditions. Nothing to do with "health insurance" as much as parents teaching their children to act responsibly and having a baby before one is educated w/jobs skills is not responsible behavior.);


2) US has a large immigration population -- both illegal aliens and naturalized. Was this accounted for in the study? For example, Asiatic-Indians suffer from an abnormally high rate of heart problems. Severe enough that the Asiatic-Indian community in the USA lobbied the US Congress for special funding for their community to address heart problems in this population.

There are a number of other explanations, none of which has much to do with insurance.

Have you noticed how the media is starting up the bash America/vote Democratic meme really early this go-round? Every article now reads like a catastrophe waiting around the corner unless all come to their senses and vote for a Democrat, stat. Even your life expectancy could be at risk. And they say that Republicans use fear as a motivator. Yeah, right.

Update: The NYT's chimes in on the healthcare debate: America, we're just awful and we'll prove it to you one headline at a time.