By Jody Heymann and Douglas Barthold
Expert Advisors
LOS ANGELES, CA, and MONTREAL, QC, Jan 2, 2014/ Troy Media/ – Here’s a fact most Canadians probably don’t know: Canadians live longer than people in the United States. Specifically, women in Canada live an average of 83 years, compared to 80 in the United States; men live over 78 years on average compared to 75 in the United States.
Why is this the case? There are clear links between mortality rates and the way countries invest in healthcare and improving social conditions.
We recently published a study in the American Journal of Public Health on the efficiency of healthcare systems at extending lives over the past two decades – and it’s good news for Canadians. For every additional hundred dollars spent on healthcare in Canada, life expectancy was extended by nearly two months. The same expenditures were only associated with less than half a month of increased life expectancy in the United States.
The study assessed the gains in life expectancy from health spending in 27 countries, as well as across genders within each nation. After controlling for economic development, social expenditures, and behaviour, we found significant differences in international levels of efficiency. Canada ranked 8th of 27 countries, while the U.S. came in at 22nd.
Read the full article in the Troy Media.
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