The latest data about life expectancy in the United States serve as an indictment of American health and American politics.
According to federal researchers, the average American in 2021 could expect to live to the age of 76. That represents a steep decline from 2019, when life expectancy was 79, and it represents the biggest two-year decline in the U.S. in a century.
While it is tempting to blame the COVID-19 pandemic for the decline — and while COVID played a role in the numbers — the virus is only part of the story. The entire world was impacted by coronavirus, yet most nations have seen a recovery in their health care statistics following a one-year downturn.
“In 2021, things should have been far better,” a Princeton University demographer told The Washington Post. “There’s some countries whose life expectancy in ’21 was higher than pre-pandemic. They suffered in 2020, and by ’21, they had more than recovered. That’s not us.”
In the United States, the numbers keep trending in a precipitous direction. And it’s not all due to COVID; life expectancy had reached a plateau in the U.S. prior to the pandemic.
With high rates of obesity, chronic health conditions such as heart disease, drug overdoses and gun violence helping to cut short too many lives, life expectancy does not reflect America’s status as a wealthy nation. COVID simply added one more ingredient to the stew that is affecting the health of our country.
The issue is not solely the final statistic — the average age at death. The issue is the quality of life that contributes to that number. Declining life expectancy is reflective of health issues throughout life, of chronic problems that can linger before factoring into a death.
Because of that, it is particularly interesting to look at state data for life expectancy. As of 2020, Washington ranked second among the states with an average expectancy of 79.2 years, behind only Hawaii. The 10 states with the shortest expectancy were almost exclusively in the South, with Mississippi having by far the shortest life span.
Much of that can be attributed to environmental factors, with states that place a high priority on clean air and clean water clearly having a longer life expectancy. Much of it also can be attributed to policies that promote public health. As the editor-at-large for Kaiser Health News told Salon.com: “The states with the lowest life expectancies are also the states least likely to have expanded Medicaid coverage. Medicaid is also the largest payer for mental health services, and Medicaid expansion would also expand access to mental health care.”
Despite those factors, getting Congress to adopt national policies that could extend the lives of Americans — and improve quality of life — can be a slog.
Rather than strengthening the Affordable Care Act, Republicans in Washington, D.C., have spent 12 years trying to undermine the law. Rather than bolstering health through strong environmental laws, the Trump administration spent four years causing damage that now must be repaired. Rather than improve mental health care, many states have slashed funding.
In our state, those issues have received robust attention from lawmakers, contributing to an exceptional expected life span and enhancing the quality of life for residents.
COVID has, indeed, played a role in shortening life expectancy in the United States. But attributing the decline entirely to the virus would be misguided. As a nation, we have underlying health issues that must be addressed.
