Excess deaths in the United States

According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the term “excess deaths” refers to the “difference between observed deaths and deaths expected if US death rates equaled the rates of other high-income countries.” In fact, the US has higher mortality rates than other high-income countries. In 2023, life expectancy in the US ranked 50^th among other countries across the globe.

The causes of our excess mortality vary according to age groups. For ages 25 to 55, half of the excess deaths were caused by drug poisoning, alcohol, and suicide. For people 55 to 64, circulatory diseases and metabolic conditions, such as diabetes, account for nearly half of the excess deaths; for ages 64 to 84 those conditions account for more than half. For people 85 and older, mental and nervous system disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, were the leading cause of excess deaths. According to the Journal, “many of these excess US deaths could likely be avoided by adopting health and social policies that have benefitted other high-income countries.”

The most rapid increase in excess US deaths is the result of drug poisonings, alcohol-related causes, and suicide—“deaths of despair”—and were most common among males.  Deaths of despair accounted for 24 percent of the increase in US deaths from 1999 to 2022. The Journal noted that deaths of despair are closely associated with social disadvantage, the loss of manufacturing jobs, automation, and worsened opportunities for less-educated workers. It also noted that “US regions with less-protective safety net and health coverage policies have higher and worsening mortality than other regions, as do those where majorities voted for Donald Trump in 2016.”  Whaddaya know!  

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