Life Expectancy

Life Added by Hospital Treatment

Researchers at Columbia and Yale found that even an extra day of hospital treatment for pneumonia or heart attack saves thousands of lives (Table H). So reducing access to hospital treatment will be deadly.

Table H. Lives Saved by More Hospital Treatment

Life Expectancy, by Age

Doctors see frail old people, and sometimes assume they have few remaining days left, and comfort is most important. However at every age we have over a year of life expectancy left, and those with good minds may want to enjoy that time. With every year we live, our life expectancy extends by 9 or 10 months, and with good care and luck we keep living. The data are prepared by CDC, which gets raw data from Medicare.

CDC has instructions to doctors on filling out death certificates, but there are weaknesses, especially for the minority of patients who die without a recent doctor visit.

Years of Life Remaining, by Age, US Residents, 1999-2001