(2006-05-30) Us Vs Uk Health

Michael Marmot published a study in JAMA saying that the middle-aged in the US are much less healthy than their counterparts in the UK. The researchers wrote that "HealthInsurance cannot be the central reason for the better health outcomes in England because the top socioeconomic-status tier of the U.S. population have close to universal access but their health outcomes are often worse than those of their English counterparts."... Dr. Michael Marmot, an author of the report, said the research showed that differences in health could not be ascribed to the "usual (Life Style) suspects," like rates of smoking, Obesity or alcohol abuse. Nor could varying levels of health be attributed to differences between the HealthCare systems of the United States and Britain, he said. "I'm arguing that it's due to the differences in the circumstances in which people live," he said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "Work, job insecurity, the nature of communities, residential communities, et cetera - I think that's the place we should try to look."