Health inequalities worse in US than England

People with low incomes have below-average health outcomes in middle age in both the US and England, but particularly so in the US, finds a new international study involving UCL. Across every income group surveyed, people living in the US had worse health than their counterparts of similar incomes in England, finds the study published in JAMA Internal Medicine , led by the University of Michigan. The differences were greatest among the lowest earners: middle-aged UK residents in the bottom 20% by income enjoyed better health across many measures than the poorest Americans of the same age group. Low-income US residents were much more likely to have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, stroke, chronic lung disease and mental health conditions than their low-income study participants in England. Those in the US were also much more likely to have a high reading on three direct measurements taken by study staff, to test their blood pressure, blood sugar and a marker for inflammation called C-reactive protein. Co-author Professor Andrew Steptoe (UCL Epidemiology & Health Care) said: "These are remarkable results, and confirm the value of comparisons between countries." "Differences in health care are part of the story, but even in England where care is free for everyone at the point of delivery, there are still marked differences in health related to income." The health gaps between high-income Americans and low-income Americans are particularly pronounced.