Death Coming Earlier in the U.S.

Opioid deaths, as well as rapidly rising drug deaths in U.S. may be to blame.

The age at which people will pass away is very important to some people.

Insurance companies need to know for their actuarial tables, so they know what rates they should charge. The government needs to know as well for its estimates regarding future Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid costs.

Because of the importance of knowing when people will most likely pass away, measurements have been developed to give those needing the information a general idea. Life expectancy is a well-known example.  However, there are others, including a measure called the premature death rate.

This premature death rate measures the number of years of life lost below the age of 75 per 100,000 people, as Think Advisor reports in "U.S. Premature Death Impact Climbs for Third Straight Year."

A new study has found that the U.S. is going in the wrong direction. For the third straight year, the premature death rate has risen. This means that more years are being lost prematurely per 100,000 people.

While no one can be certain just why Americans are not living as long as they did previously, this new study strongly indicates that the opioid crisis takes considerable blame as well as the rapid rise of drug deaths in the U.S.

If the study is correct about the reason for more premature deaths, then it is likely that the government will need to do more to address opioids in the near future.

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Reference: Think Advisor (Dec. 12, 2017) "U.S. Premature Death Impact Climbs for Third Straight Year."