There are some things because of economies of scale that only
a govt can do best -war , education , health , pensions .
Britain spends the least on health just 7% of GDP and yet all health
care is free and medicines subsidized . One can go to any general
practioner and get seen immediately and be prescribed the latest
medicines and be admitted to hospital free if necessary .

A combination of fee per patient per year -about $20 and help
with 70% of office expenses means that family doctors can see 50
patients a day each and do visits at home without complaining .
Education also is all free and govt pensions have the best returns
as there are not so many middle men needed.

In America in contrast one serious illness can wipe out a
lifetime of savings and medical insurance is expensive to buy..

People in Britain are becoming so healthy the average lifespan is set
to rise to 100, according to a senior government doctor. Life
expectancy has risen more than 30 years this century, with men now
living to 74.4 years on average and women to 79.6.
Life expectancy is rising at about two years every decade, and Dr Pat
Troop, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said there was no reason for
it to stop increasing. ‘It will continue until we come to the natural
life expectancy of us as an organism, which is probably around 95 to
100 years,’ she told The Observer. ‘People who don’t have disease live
into their nineties or to 100, so there is still scope for
improvement.’

The rise has been driven by better nutrition, better housing and
improvements in medical care, eliminating the risks of many diseases.
In the first half of this century, life expectancy rose sharply
because of a dramatic reduction in infant mortality, but it is now
being pushed up by old people carrying on for much longer than they
used to.

In the Seventies, a 65-year-old man could expect to live to 77,
whereas now he could expect to live to 81. The government actuary
suggested recently that centenarians in Britain would rise from 13,000
now to 100,000 by 2066.

Although people have sharply cut the amount of fat and red meat they
eat, and increased consumption of fruit, further advances are needed.
‘What we have to ensure now is that people eat more vegetables,’ said
Troop. People are also more sedentary.’

Geneticist Chris Morris, of the Institute for the Health of the
Elderly at Newcastle, thinks life expectancy of women could reach 90
in the next decades. ‘We can see an increase in life expectancy of
five to 10 years in the next 30 years, partly through diet, and partly
through medication,’ he said. ‘By decreasing salt intake, you can add
two to five years to life expectancy. Now we have to try to reduce
cholesterol to add another two to five years. If you also give drugs
for high blood pressure, you can add yet another two to five years.

Yet health workers warn that the length of healthy life is unaltered,
and people are living more years with illness or disability. Lorna
Easterbrook, fellow in community care at the Kings Fund, said: ‘It
seems that you have the same years of severe disabil ity, it just gets
shunted further along, so it’s 85 rather than 80. But we are living
longer with moderate disability and illness.’