We’re Post journalists Dan Diamond, Dan Keating and Lauren Weber. We found that Americans are more likely to die before age 65 than residents of similar nations, despite living in a country that spends substantially more per person on health care than its peers.
Many of those early deaths can be traced to decisions made years ago by local and state lawmakers over whether to implement cigarette taxes, invest in public health or tighten seat-belt regulations, among other policies, an examination by The Washington Post found.
States’ politics — and their resulting policies — are shaving years off American lives.
State lawmakers gained autonomy over how to spend federal safety net dollars following Republican President Ronald Reagan’s push to empower the states in the 1980s. Those investments began to diverge sharply along red and blue lines, with conservative lawmakers often balking at public health initiatives they said cost too much or overstepped.
Today, people in the South and Midwest, regions largely controlled by Republican state legislators, have increasingly higher chances of dying prematurely compared with those in the more Democratic Northeast and West, according to The Post’s analysis of death rates.
Ohio, for example, sticks out — for all the wrong reasons. Roughly 1 in 5 Ohioans will die before they turn 65, according to an academic analysis using the state’s 2019 death rates. The state, whose legislature has been increasingly dominated by Republicans, has plummeted nationally when it comes to life expectancy rates, moving from middle of the pack to the bottom fifth of states during the last 50 years, The Post found.
Learn more about how we did our analysis [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/10/02/takeaways-us-life-expectancy-crisis/), or and ask us anything.
Gift link to our story here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/republican-politics-south-midwest-life-expectancy/?pwapi\_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjk2OTEwNDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjk4MjkyNzk5LCJpYXQiOjE2OTY5MTA0MDAsImp0aSI6IjE1ODkwNjVmLWRjMDEtNDkxMi1iNWNiLTFiY2NmYzkxODczOSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9oZWFsdGgvaW50ZXJhY3RpdmUvMjAyMy9yZXB1YmxpY2FuLXBvbGl0aWNzLXNvdXRoLW1pZHdlc3QtbGlmZS1leHBlY3RhbmN5LyJ9.pPczBQ9AIAbjOD-mGa2k36K25aE4-Bo6h\_W84VjQN-I&itid=gfta](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/republican-politics-south-midwest-life-expectancy/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjk2OTEwNDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjk4MjkyNzk5LCJpYXQiOjE2OTY5MTA0MDAsImp0aSI6IjE1ODkwNjVmLWRjMDEtNDkxMi1iNWNiLTFiY2NmYzkxODczOSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9oZWFsdGgvaW50ZXJhY3RpdmUvMjAyMy9yZXB1YmxpY2FuLXBvbGl0aWNzLXNvdXRoLW1pZHdlc3QtbGlmZS1leHBlY3RhbmN5LyJ9.pPczBQ9AIAbjOD-mGa2k36K25aE4-Bo6h_W84VjQN-I&itid=gfta)
PROOF:
[https://imgur.com/a/o5hYGPG](https://imgur.com/a/o5hYGPG)
[https://imgur.com/a/RvXmKgg](https://imgur.com/a/RvXmKgg)
[https://imgur.com/a/0aDbfT9](https://imgur.com/a/0aDbfT9)
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by washingtonpost
10 comments
You should prioritize public health, invest in preventive measures, and stop worrying about costs or overstepping boundaries. State lawmakers need to prioritize the lives of their constituents.
What are the biggest factors that make so many people harmed by red states policies unable to properly blame those responsible?
Look, if you won’t let them raise the age to receive Social Security, they’ll have to kill you earlier so they can earmark those funds for their donors. It’s your own fault, really… /s
KUDOS! I read and shared that article with everyone I know. Its the best reporting I’ve seen from the Washington Post in years. Did any of the red states residents recognize the lack of health care as a problem? It amazes me that so many vote contrary to their own best interests.
If your conclusion was actually completely wrong, how could you tell?
To what extent, in your view, is this maintenance of an extractive economic structure that harms people so severely and quantifiably a necessary part of building and maintaining an empire?
What are the red-state representatives hoping to gain by keeping their population sick? They aren’t doing their state or the nation any favors.
These evaluations seem very data-driven, which is an interesting way to look at the impact of legislation.
Do you see any untold stories in the information and data analysis you’ve used as part of your story? Any particular insights or concerns if you break things down by income or specific zip code or race or gender or any other data point?
Is the life expectency difference shared among various demographics within each state, or does it fall harder on certain groups?
A little off topic but how is the media going to responsibly cover Trump during this election? all the free, positive press practically handed him the election in 2016 and he seems to be on the front page every day since then. He is a candidate unlike any before, his lying goes mostly unchecked, as do his assaults on our democracy; he doesn’t play by the rules. Millions are brainwashed by him, the rest of us feel helpless. TY! :
Off topic: Is your editorial board still terrible? I’d love to resubscribe, but I won’t if they’re still anonymously shilling as “the editorial board” for republicans.