The United States should be a land of opportunity in which every child born into poverty has a fair chance to succeed in life. Yet a major study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association provides insight into why there is a growing gap between a person’s income and life expectancy. Even with these findings, the report can guide how future health care policies address these inequalities.
The study has four major conclusions. First, income predicts longer life. That richer people live longer, healthier lives has probably been true since the beginning of time. This study shows that, for men, the difference between the richest and poorest Americans is outrageous, nearly 15 years in life expectancy. The gap is over 10 years for women.
The above excerpt was originally published in U.S. News & World Report.
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