In post-Trump America, political affiliation is directly tied to life expectancy

[MissMillie]

These disparate results are directly correlated to the attention and resources that red and blue states devote to the health of their citizens. Blue state Americans have far greater access to health care. Their political leaders invest more in education, day care, and other safety net programs. They strictly regulate handguns, which means fewer of their residents die from gun violence. Medicaid benefits are generous and are not tied to punitive regulations like work requirements.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/in-post-trump-america-political-affiliation-is-directly-tied-to-life-expectancy/ar-AALLjO4?ocid=U483DHP&li=BBnbfcL


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I've seen statistics like this before. I guess what surprises me is that 45 considers the vaccine to be HIS accomplishment, yet so much of his cult following wants nothing to do with it.

[DBoon]

1. related Paul Krugman piece from 2019

https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20191203/krugman-americarsquos-red-state-death-trip

I looked at states that voted for Donald Trump versus states that voted for Clinton in 2016, and calculated average life expectancy weighted by their 2016 population. In 1990, today’s red and blue states had almost the same life expectancy. Since then, however, life expectancy in Clinton states has risen more or less in line with other advanced countries, compared with almost no gain in Trump country. At this point, blue-state residents can expect to live more than four years longer than their red-state counterparts.

Is this all about deaths of despair in the eastern heartland? No. Consider our four most populous states. In 1990, Texas and Florida had higher life expectancy than New York and almost matched California; today, they’re far behind.

What explains the divergence? Public policy certainly plays some role, especially in recent years, as blue states expanded Medicaid and drastically reduced the number of uninsured, while most red states didn’t. The growing gap in educational levels has also surely played a role: Better-educated people tend to be healthier than the less educated.

Beyond that, there has been a striking divergence in behavior and lifestyle that must be affecting mortality. For example, the prevalence of obesity has soared all across America since 1990, but obesity rates are significantly higher in red states.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Thank you for the interesting read. I wondered too, if the aging populations, moving from the ...

northern states to southern states (warmer climates) played a role in perhaps distorting these stats? The article did mention obesity but didn't mention age and the annual snowbird migration that happens every year (as well as those moving permanently to the southern regions of the US).