US Life Expectancy: Best In World?
Apparently "yes", when you control for car crashes and homicides.
One big reason our life expectancy lags is that Americans have an unusual tendency to perish in homicides or accidents. We are 12 times more likely than the Japanese to be murdered and nearly twice as likely to be killed in auto wrecks.
In their 2006 book, The Business of Health, economists Robert L. Ohsfeldt and John E. Schneider set out to determine where the U.S. would rank in life span among developed nations if homicides and accidents are factored out. Their answer? First place.
via The Agitator » Blog Archive » Life Expectancy.
Not sure what this says about US rates of homicide and auto fatalities, but I'm pretty sure it says that the "Americans spend more on health care but don't live as long" trope is misleading at best.