One of the main reasons the US life expectancy is lower is that we call a 20-24 week gestation premie a 'live birth' and fight like hell to keep him/her alive. When they don't make it we call it death at a very young age. Other countries call it a dead baby and it doesn't effect their life expectancy statistics. US citizens have access to the best health care in the world but I concede the US could be doing a much better job in preventive medicine. An 85 year old US citizen has a median survival of 5+ years. They get put on ventilators, dialysis machines, etc to keep them alive if they wish. In other countries the doctor tells the family, "Grandma's gonna die". The biggest bang for the buck is in rationing futile, end of life care. Most docs won't stand up to hand-wringing family members who want to sue someone when an 85 year old bites the dust.
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