Shorter Lives, Poorer Health in US Compared with Peer Nations.

US residents live shorter and less healthy lives than people in other developed nations, and the mortality gap is growing thanks in large part to a higher rate of deaths among US individuals under the age of 50 years, says a new report from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. America's health disadvantage likely results from inadequate health care systems, unhealthy behaviors, social and economic factors, and environmental factors. The report compared outcomes and mortality in the United States – which spends more on health care than any other nation – with 16 peer countries.