A study in progress postulates that rising mortality and morbidity in midlife, non-Hispanic Americans is due to the “cumulative disadvantage” of poor job prospects for those with low levels of education, leading to “deaths of despair.”
In contrast, mortality rates in Europe are going down overall, decreasing even more rapidly for those without higher education.
The authors note a startling statistic – whites aged 50-54 had a 30 percent lower mortality rate than blacks in 1999, but the white mortality rate is now 30 percent higher. It also notes that overprescribing of opioids for pain has made things much worse.
People will be less-healthy at age 65 than those who preceded them, which has significant implications for Medicare.
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