I was not surprised by this.
Republican Counties Have Higher Mortality Rates Than Democratic Ones, Study Finds
Madeline Halpert Forbes Staff
TOPLINE Americans living in counties that voted Republican during presidential elections from 2000 to 2016 experienced higher death rates than those who lived in Democratic counties, according to a new British Medical Journal study, which researchers said added to a growing body of evidence that liberal policies may lead to better health outcomes.
KEY FACTS
Mortality rates dropped 22% in Democratic counties compared to 11% in Republican counties from 2001 to 2019, according to the study, which used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked to county-level presidential election data.
Between 2001 and 2019, the gap in death rates between Democratic and Republican counties also grew by more than 500%, driven largely by deaths from heart disease; cancer; chronic lung disease; unintentional injuries, including drug overdoses; and suicide.
Black and Hispanic residents experienced similar improvements in mortality rates in Democratic and Republican counties, while white residents in Democratic counties saw 15% lower mortality rates than their white counterparts in Republican counties in 2019, compared to a 3% gap in death rates in 2001.
Black Americans saw higher mortality rates in both Democratic and Republican counties compared to white and Hispanic Americans from 2001 to 2019, although Black residents in both Democratic and Republican residents experienced substantial improvements in mortality rates since 2001.
Rural Republican counties experienced the highest mortality rates out of all groups and saw the smallest improvement in death rates over time, suggesting political environments play a crucial role in the widening mortality gap between urban and rural areas, according to the researchers.
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
Exactly how and what local policies may have affected health outcomes. Researchers studied mortality rates based on whether counties voted for Democratic or Republican presidential candidates, but they did not study specific factors linking political environment and mortality.
KEY BACKGROUND
Previous research has shown counties that elect Republicans tend to see worse health outcomes, including fewer improvements in life expectancy and higher rates of deaths from suicide, drugs and alcohol. The new research comes a day after a study published in Health Affairs showed people living in counties that voted Republican in the 2020 presidential election were more likely to die from Covid-19 than those in counties that voted for Democrats. Researchers have found more liberal policies such as labor, immigration and environmental protections are linked with better life expectancy, while more conservative policies like abortion restrictions and lax gun control laws are associated with lower life expectancy. More liberal states are also more likely to implement welfare policies that act as a safety net for vulnerable populations, such as Medicaid expansion, which has led to better health care and reductions in mortality, while Republican-led states are more likely to have higher rates of uninsured people, according to the researchers. The BMJ study is the first to include data from after the 2016 presidential election as well as a breakdown of mortality rates by sex, race, ethnicity and location. Researchers suggested further studies should focus on the factors causing a growing difference in mortality rates between Republican and Democratic counties.
FURTHER READING
Life expectancy tied to voting choices in last U.S. presidential election (Reuters)
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12 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Stupidity kills and lets hope this kind of stupidity includes a large of suffering so these people can reflect on their stupidity.
JackPedigo
Level 9
June 8, 2022
1
Maybe Democrats eat better quality food? The less educated tend to eat more junk food I imagine.
rogerbenham
Level 8
June 8, 2022
4
From what I see in my area it's the funding for healthcare services. The right wing trumpers around here live where the healthcare is pretty good, funded because of the tech and aero space industry of the more democratic west side. As the upper county became more gentrified with the build up of the exclusive Suncardia Resort there was a huge (and I mean HUGE) push to get clinic services near by. It was accomplished, that's what the rich folks do, yes the loggers, farmers and lesser peoples benefit but their property taxes did go up.
They have to appear alive to get them to keep voting democrat.
CourtJester
Level 7
June 8, 2022
1
I'm liberal and easily agree in sentiment to the thrust if this argument. I just wonder if other potential causal factors for poor mortality outcomes might factor in. Glaringly obvious would be the fact the rural areas are overwhelmingly dominated by conservatives, and at the same time hospitals and health clinics are few and far between, not because the populace is conservative but because they are spread out geographically.
Having said that, I want these research factors controlled for, because I want the findings to be clear. There is no doubt at all that conservative social safety net policies are abysmal, and I would argue, callous toward the suffering and struggles of any groups that aren't their own specific reference demographic.
MikeInBatonRouge
Level 8
June 8, 2022
4
I know my Louisiana relatives have always had much worse health outcomes then relatives I have in other places. Even though they were middle class, I always attributed it to the oil fields there since most of them succumbed to cancer at much too early in age. Lack of environmental constraints is another cause of poor health outcomes and most conservative States including Oklahoma don't take care of the environment. I am fortunate to live in areas that are not rich in oil or near one of their nasty coal fired power plants.
Of course lack of access to healthcare has a lot to do with healthcare outcomes as well. Healthcare access is definitely a problem in most conservative States.
Willful stupidity and willful ignorance is its own lethal reward.
anglophone
Level 9
June 8, 2022
2
This is no big surprise. Republicans do not sponsor healthcare and all they go along with in childcare is birth. After that you art on your own.
DenoPenno
Level 9
June 8, 2022
2
And not safe birth, thus women having stillbirth can be seen as criminals.
Splendid.
rainmanjr
Level 8
June 8, 2022
2
Shit! I am running our of Darwin Awards!
Anyone who changes their place of residence or political persuasion due to this analysis, deserves an average life resulting in an average death.
There is no need to fit in societal boxes wherever you live and whatever political view you hold. So live better than average and give all the finger.
puff
Level 8
June 8, 2022
0
A typical response from someone who doesn't seem to care about anyone but themselves.
The obstructionist regressive republican fascists and their MAGA death cult member shows just how much they actually feel about life and the living!!!
This article based on this study rings so true of how these fascists want to deliberately cull those that are in any sort of opposition to them, with includes females, the poor, and minority individuals!!!
of-the-mountain
Level 9
June 8, 2022
2
No big surprise here. Just documenting what should be obvious.
Barnie2years
Level 8
June 7, 2022
4
Here is evidence that fake conspiracy theories (in this case, anti-vax) kill.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
June 7, 2022
3
COVID, also lifestyle: poor nutrition and medical care, inadequate education, obesity, smoking, lack of exercise, guns, etc.
Organist1
Level 8
June 7, 2022
8
Since this study ended in 2019, please do not add COVID. There are many potential reasons for the results, education among them, which crosses both parties. Working in a field or lifting heavy things in a metal works is not exercise? How about simple access to medical care? Having worked in healthcare in rural spaces, when it takes an hour to get to a hospital people will die from things that could be treated. What is the answer if you can’t get clinicians to live in these spaces because the clinician or their family wants the amenities of a city. There is a higher value on autonomy that right leaning people have compared to the desire of protection that left leaning people seem to have. But for both I believe we need better education which both defund.
@Surchin Physically demanding jobs, like field work or continuous heavy lifting, may be good exercise, but over a lifetime of working probably also lead to earlier deaths, as the worker's body is literally worn out early like an overworked machine.
@Surchin in Oklahoma increases in educational funding with one exception have always been under Democratic leadership. That exception only happened because of a statewide walkout and week-long protest that included both teachers and their supporters.
The conservative war on Obamacare resulted in massive rural hospital closings because of the way the payments where restructured.
America's large rural population will never be adequately served by healthcare professionals unless there is a national effort to educate more health care professionals that requires that a free education results in a commitment for a certain number of years to a rural area. Many states and now do that but on a much too small scale.
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