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Comment by guard-of-terra | Hacker News Reader

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guard-of-terra·

Cuba now has roughly the same life expectancy as the USA - a bit more than 79 years.

I.e. it doesn't seem that they sacrificed a lot.

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The US isn't exactly setting the bar for healthcare.

It's not about the United States being the best, it's about them being the "reference standard" for life quality in developed nations. Everybody compares themselves to the US from economic metrics to quality of life, as one will do when a superpower has dominated geopolitical dynamics for as long as the US has.

In many areas, yes. But from Europe at least, the US healthcare system seems so obviously broken that it's relatively rarely used for comparisons. Sweden is more common, I'd say.

Now if we're talking about innovation, technology, culture -- THEN there will be wistful comparisons to the US

> Everybody compares themselves to the US from economic metrics to quality of life

Which unfortunately, these days, is dragging a lot of countries down.

I see Australia and Canada doing it every day, and it's actively making life in those countries worse, because it's coming "down" to US standards.

They think they are though and convinced themselves and many others that they are.

cutting back on health care will not necessarily have immediate effects on the life expectancy, just as investing won't. At least if you can still provide a good basic level of service.

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