A study found chronic diseases, alongside overdoses, suicides and homicides, contribute to the widening life-expectancy gap between the U.S. and wealthy countries; U.S. life expectancy ranked 38th among countries with over 1 million residents in 2023.
Researchers analyzed U.S. mortality data from 1999 to 2023 against data from 16 high-income countries. Among people ages 25–44, all-cause mortality rose 71.2% from 2010 to 2021, with sharp increases in deaths from hypertensive disease, endocrine and metabolic disorders, and alcoholic liver disease. Since 2010, circulatory, respiratory, nervous-system and endocrine and metabolic diseases, as well as external causes, increasingly drove the gap.
COVID-19 further worsened the trend, becoming a leading cause of death among middle-aged and older adults; researchers said non-COVID causes continued to claim lives as the pandemic subsided. Health economist Mónika López Anuarbe said care costs can prompt insured and middle-class Americans to delay or forgo treatment. The study says narrowing the gap will require addressing health-care access, socioeconomic conditions, environmental risks and long-standing inequalities.
