In order to determine how unequal life expectancy is in the United States, and why, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Initiative for Global Health analyzed census and health statistics data for the years 1982 to 2001. They found what they call "an enormous gap" in life expectancies based on race, counties of residence, income, and a few other social factors.
A big effort is being made in the United States to provide health insurance for the nearly 47 million Americans who don't have it. Increasing access to coverage is bound to narrow the gap in life span, but will not come close to eliminating it, the researchers speculate. "The variation in health plan coverage across the eight Americas is small relative to the very large difference in health outcome," notes Murray, who is lead author of the report.
The research team concludes that "because policies aimed at reducing fundamental socioeconomic inequalities are currently practically absent in the United States, health disparities will have to be at least partly addressed through public health strategies that reduce risk factors for chronic disease and injuries."
