Why Is Government-Run Health Care Problematic? Because Americans Live A Long Time

Jillian Bandes | December 29, 2009 10:08 AM

Research from Dr. Jack Rowe of Columbia University's School of Public Health didn't directly consider the effects of a longer lifespan on the health care bill cost,

but it did note that "U.S. government agencies' projections do not match the study's for increases in life expectancy because they assume improvements in mortality in the coming decades will decelerate."

According to the research, Americans could be living eight years older than the current government projections. Women could average between about 90-92 years in 2050, and men about 93-86 years, but the U.S. Census Bureau and the Social Security Administration's budget projections don't allow for women to live past 85 and men past 81. Here's Rowe:

We don't know that we're right, but we think rather than using these conservative estimates the nation is better served by having a range of estimates that include the potential for continued advances.

There could be other problems associated with this conservative lifespan estimate, such as job structures, education, city planning, and retirement plans.