Second, poor health in the individual probably detracts from his or her capacity to contribute to society more directly than the harm to productive society represented by the cost of the individual's healthcare.
Furthermore, the vast majority of American healthcare dollars are spent on individuals in their later years, after their productive lives are already over, rather than on working-age people. Finally, while reducing healthcare costs is necessary for the optimal health of the American economy, it probably relates more directly to private economic matters rather than to consuming national resources that could otherwise be dedicated to technological development in a general sense.
Response to Statement #3: As suggested in Response #2, optimum public health is not necessarily a prerequisite for global competitiveness unless by "health"...
On the other hand, the American population is undoubtedly on the verge of an obesity crisis, and ever-increasing obesity-related incidence of many diseases, including diabetes and probably more forms of human cancer than those unrelated to obesity.
This issue is more relevant to the discussion topic than those raised by responses 1 and 2, because it may be logically related to the apparent decline in female life expectancy in the U.S. Still, it is not immediately clear why the change is reflected among only one gender, but it is perfectly plausible to imagine that it may have something to do with changing female roles in society and that women are less insulated from some of the health hazards traditionally encountered more by men when women were still underrepresented in the workforce.
