Why the difference?

A very interesting study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that US residents aged 55 - 64 are considerably less healthy than residents of England, although the US spends a lot more on medical care than does England. The study does not posit any reasons for this, but the discrepancies exist no matter what income or educational level is considered.

Two questions come to mind:

• Does the English medical system spend more on prevention than we do?
• What effect does the number of uninsured in this country have on the results?