Life Expectancy Since Obamacare
Obamacare promised much, including extending lives. The results.
5/29/20262 min read
If you’re over 35 years old, you probably remember when Obamacare promised to save money, cover the poor, and even “save lives”, which implies living longer. Fifteen years later, premiums have tripled for more people than not, many were forced onto plans they didn’t want or need, and, as for “saving lives”… it depends on one’s perspective. This blog addresses life expectancy since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law in 2011.
Life expectancy has increased since Obamacare… by 9 months or 1.1%. Sounds great, right? Again, perspective. According to Microtrends, the rise in life expectancy over the last 15 years is the least in any 15 year period dating all the way back to 1950. In fact, there isn’t a single 10-year period since 1950 that saw such little improvement. Prior to Obamacare, every decade saw a rise in life expectancy of at least one year, with an increase of nearly three years during the 1970’s. Not so since the ACA.
Then I thought, “What if Microtrends is wrong?” I researched further and found stats from the Social Security Administration. They should know. They gave life expectancy numbers from birth, as well as from 30, 60, 70, and 80 years of age. While the numbers varied somewhat from Microtrends data, the pattern was identical. Life expectancy saw the smallest increase, in months and percentage, after Obamacare than in any 10-year period dating back to 1950.
Then I asked myself, “What if I eliminated such events as drug overdoses, deaths in war, car accidents, suicides, and gang violence, things which generally affect younger people at a higher rate?” Back to the Social Security statistics, which included life expectancy for those having reached 30 years of age. As expected, life expectancy went up somewhat, but… the Obamacare trend still held true. Even when excluding people still under 30, life expectancy increases shrank since the start of the ACA.
But, wait! It gets worse. The lower increase in life expectancy has occurred despite the fact that 850 new drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2011. We have new treatments for cancer, diabetes, weight-loss, and other medical issues.
The argument that better medical care, better medical coverage, better insurance, etc. will extend lives better than previous decades is either a lie, or… other causes are in play. Perhaps the environment, even though the United States puts out far less pollutants per capita than decades ago, or… Americans simply can’t part with their fake food, potato couch lifestyle. I would argue it’s far more of the latter. Obesity is higher than ever. Diabetes is expected to increase 54% by 2030 from what it was in 2020. Deaths from it are expected to be 28% higher. (Journal of Family Medicine).
Improvements in life expectancy aren’t what they used to be. Something is either obviously wrong with what we’re doing, or… maybe we’ve neared maximum life. Microtrends shows some mix, but Social Security stats show the percentage in increase shrinking every decade since the 1960’s, which ironically, isn’t long after government started involving itself in people’s heath in 1953.
