UTopiAH. This is Part of a series for comparing census based life expectancy and death rate tables, ranking states by how long we live, from 1960 to 2015. Included are medical conditions rating Utah’s #1 health rankings. Since 2012 state rankings are now correlated to voting in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections, with blue states on top, and red states at the bottom. Utopia is Sir Thomas More’s (1516) perfect place to live, and with a slight variation in spelling, perfectly describes Utah

Part Eight. This is the 2018 life expectancy based on age adjusted death rates as of 2014, by 247Wallst.com, States With the Longest and Shortest Life  Expectancy, divided by Red and Blue states 2016 presidential election.

Matthew 7 Verses 18 and 20.A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them

For fifty years, life expectancy, was based on the census taken every ten years. States were rank ordered based on the longevity of their residents’ lives. Longevity has been the basis for 1)commercial uses, 2)health programs, 3)governmental budgets, and4) forward planning. 1)Commercial uses include a) annuity tables for retirement investments – how long the annuity will be needed to provide a life time income? and hence its cost; b) life insurance tables for payment of death benefits and when death benefits will be due, and hence the premium for the insurance; c) population growth, long term care. 2) Health programs use include age related maladies and hospitalization. 3) Governmental budgets include Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act so called Obamacare, development, public health, education, transportation, and national security. 4) Forward planning includes water resources, urban planning, social services, and family growth,.   Progress or decline in life expectancy, takes decades.   For instance noting that Utah’s life expectancy ranked 6^th in 1960, Utah climbed to 2^nd in 1970, back to 3^rd in 1980, and topped out to 1^st by 1990. It is even harder to move among ranks the larger the population in the State. California’s population is ten times Utah’s. California’s life expectancy ranked 19^th in 1960 census, climbed to 14^th in 1970, 18^th in 1980, and dropped back to 32^nd in 1990 (calculated in 2004). Sifting through hundreds of millions of records took 14 years from 1990 to 2004.

National Vital statistics Systems. Vital statistics provide insight into important trends in health, including the impact of chronic conditions, progress on reducing deaths due to motor vehicle accidents, and the evolving challenge of substance abuse. The vital statistics system is a key part of the public health infrastructure, providing the best and most complete information on populations and health outcomes. Investments in the vital statistics infrastructure can improve health, reduce costs, strengthen national security, and increase resilience to outbreaks, disasters and other crises. Vital statistics data guide investments to improve health and help measure the success of those investments.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/modernization/index.htm

The sifting of statistics changed in 2012. The change was explained by Center of Disease Control’s NCHS [National Center for Health Statistics ] as of 2012 ‘’Beginning with the 1999 data year, NCHS [National Center for Health Statistics ] adopted a new population standard for use in age adjusting death rates. Based on the projected year 2000 population of the United States, the new standard replaced the 1940 standard population that had been used for more than 50 years. The new population standard affects levels of mortality and, to some extent, trends and group comparisons. Of particular note are the effects on race mortality comparisons.’’ National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 66, Number 6.  

What was the effect of Age-Adjusted population Longevity ranking? The age-adjusted population death rates began by 2012, in the NCHS, for quantifying 2000 census data.   Within 5 years, another estimated census for 2015 was age adjusted in 2018. Age Adjusted Life expectancy rankings also just happen to very strongly correlate to states’ Presidential election voting, with Blue states filling all 10 slots in the top quintile, and Red states filling all slots in the bottom quintile. Census was ignored.

Red state Utah’s life expectancy was previously ranked 1^st (best, and longest life expectancy) in the census of 1990 (as reported in 2004), and well within the top quintile for the previous decades’ census. But with the new age adjusted population computation, Utah’s age adjusted life expectancy rank dropped to an age adjusted rank of 10^th for census of 2000 (as determined in 2012), and an age adjusted rank of 13^th for 2015 (as determined in 2018).

Red state North Dakota, held life expectancy 1^st ranks in the census of 1960 and census of 1970, 2^nd rank in 1980 and 3^rd rank in census of 1990. dropped to an age adjusted rank of 5^th in census of 2000 (again as determined in 2012), and an age adjusted rank of 12^th for census estimates for 2015 (as determined in 2018).

Blue state California’s life expectancy, consistently down in the second and third quintiles in previous 20^th century census, from 32^nd in the census of 1990 (as determined in 2004) leaped to an age adjusted population rank of 8^th for census 2000 (as determined in 2012) , top quintile, and once in the top quintile, California achieved an age adjusted population[ rank of 3^rd for 2015 (as determined in 2018).

‘Age adjusted population’ changed the results of the rankings for all the states. Blessing Blue states and cursing Red states. Focusing life expectancy ranks on age adjusted population death rates, means the state ranks are now determined, not by census counts, but by political results.

States With the Longest and Shortest Life  Expectancy By Evan Comen February 20, 2018

https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/02/20/states-with-the-longest-and-shortest-life-expectancy-2/

2016 President election, Red state versus Blue State

[The following is the 247WallSt text in part and rankings.]

50. Hawaii> Life expectancy at birth:81.2 yrs.> Obesity rate:22.3% (2nd lowest)> Smoking rate: 14.1% (8th lowest)> Median household income: $74,511 (5th highest)
51. Minnesota> Life expectancy at birth:80.9 yrs.>
52. California> Life expectancy at birth:80.8 yrs.>Smoking rate:11.7% (2nd lowest)>
53. Connecticut> Life expectancy at birth:80.6 yrs.> Smoking rate:13.5% (3rd lowest)>
54. Massachusetts> Life expectancy at birth:80.4 yrs.> Smoking rate:14.0% (6^th lowest>
55. New York> Life expectancy at birth:80.4 yrs.>
56. Vermont> Life expectancy at birth:80.2 yrs.>
57. Colorado> Life expectancy at birth:80.2 yrs.>
58. New Hampshire> Life expectancy at birth:80.2 yrs.>
59. New Jersey> Life expectancy at birth:80.0 yrs.> Smoking rate:13.5% (4th lowest)
60. Washington> Life expectancy at birth:80.0 yrs.>
61. North Dakota> Life expectancy at birth:80.0 yrs.>
62. Utah> Life expectancy at birth:79.9 yrs.> Smoking rate:9.1% (the lowest)>
63. Wisconsin> Life expectancy at birth:79.8 yrs.>
64. Rhode Island> Life expectancy at birth:79.8 yrs.>
65. Iowa> Life expectancy at birth:79.7 yrs.>
66. Arizona> Life expectancy at birth:79.6 yrs.>
67. Nebraska> Life expectancy at birth:79.6 yrs.>
68. South Dakota> Life expectancy at birth:79.6 yrs.>
69. Idaho> Life expectancy at birth:79.5 yrs.> Smoking rate:13.8% (5th lowest)>
70. Florida> Life expectancy at birth:79.5 yrs.>
71. Oregon> Life expectancy at birth:79.4 yrs.>
72. Maine> Life expectancy at birth:79.3 yrs.>
73. Virginia> Life expectancy at birth:79.2 yrs.>
74. Maryland> Life expectancy at birth:79.2 yrs.>
75. Illinois> Life expectancy at birth:79.0 yrs.>
76. Montana> Life expectancy at birth:78.9 yrs.>
77. Pennsylvania> Life expectancy at birth:78.8 yrs.>
78. Kansas> Life expectancy at birth:78.7 yrs.>
79. Delaware> Life expectancy at birth:78.7 yrs.>
80. Wyoming> Life expectancy at birth:78.6 yrs.>
81. Texas> Life expectancy at birth:78.5 yrs.>
82. Alaska> Life expectancy at birth:78.4 yrs.>
83. New Mexico> Life expectancy at birth:78.4 yrs.> 1
84. Michigan> Life expectancy at birth:78.3 yrs.>
85. Nevada> Life expectancy at birth:78.1 yrs.>
86. Ohio> Life expectancy at birth:77.9 yrs.>
87. North Carolina> Life expectancy at birth:77.9 yrs>
88. Missouri> Life expectancy at birth:77.7 yrs.>
89. Indiana> Life expectancy at birth:77.7 yrs.>
90. Georgia> Life expectancy at birth:77.4 yrs.>
91. South Carolina> Life expectancy at birth:76.9 yrs.>
92. Tennessee> Life expectancy at birth:76.3 yrs.>
93. Kentucky> Life expectancy at birth:76.3 yrs.>
94. Arkansas> Life expectancy at birth:76.2 yrs.>
95. Oklahoma> Life expectancy at birth:76.1 yrs.>
96. West Virginia> Life expectancy at birth:76.0 yrs.>
97. Louisiana > Life expectancy at birth:75.8 yrs.
98. Alabama> Life expectancy at birth:75.7 yrs.>
99. Mississippi> Life expectancy at birth:74.9 yrs.>

By Evan Comen

Due to improvements in medicine, sanitation, and other public health advances, life expectancy in most of the developed world has increased nearly every year over the past century. Despite this trend, life expectancy in fallen in the U.S. for the second year in a row.

While Americans enjoyed the highest life expectancy of any OECD nation in the 1960s, the U.S. health advantage began to wane in the 1980s and eventually fell below the OECD average in 1998. The U.S. average life expectancy at birth today is 78.7 years, 1.5 years lower than the OECD average.

Relative to other affluent nations, Americans report worse birth outcomes, more injuries and homicides, higher teenage pregnancy rates, and higher incidences of HIV/AIDS, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

**Life expectancy also varies heavily across the United States. While life expectancy in some states is greater than the OECD average, in others it is on par with developing countries like Malaysia, Uruguay, and Iran. Differences in life expectancy throughout the United States largely parallel differences in socioeconomic conditions, like income and education, and risk factors like smoking, inactivity, and obesity.

**

Factors that contribute to poorer health among Americans relative to the OECD include unhealthy behaviors such as high caloric intake and firearm ownership, weaker welfare support, lack of universal health insurance, and a physical environment that encourages car ownership over pedestrian and bicycle transportation.

Within the United States, states with the most risk factors have the lowest life expectancy. The eight states with the lowest life expectancy also have the eight highest inactivity and eight highest obesity rates of any state. Other behavioral risk factors, such as smoking, correlate highly with life expectancy. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than it is for nonsmokers. In 13 of the 15 states with the shortest life expectancy, the smoking rate is higher than the national figure of 18%.

**

To determine the states with the longest and shortest life expectancy, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2014 life expectancy at birth figures provided by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a global research center affiliated with the University of Washington. Data on smoking and obesity came from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Data on median household income came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey [See Part One]. All data are for the most recent period available.

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