Life Expectancy and Health Insurance - Is there a connection?

Life expectancy is defined as the expected (in the statistical sense) number of years of life remaining at a given age.

World life expectancy levels (source: Google Public Database)

Life expectancy in the developed world (US and Canada is close to 80 years of age. The world average for life expectancy is 70.  The developing world average, particularly India is 62. What does this have to do financial planning you would say?

Well, for the developed world living to long translates into the need for better retirement planning. 

For countries like India, where the life expectancy is 65 and most individuals continue working way past the retirement age of 60, this translates into the need for "insurance", so that the ones who you care about are financial secure. But is it only financial security that matters, can life insurance be a solution. 

Can leaving large sums of money left behind ensure that the problem of people dying young go away? There is more to this crisis that is only getting worse..

Life expectancy in India by state:

State	Life expectancy at birth (2011)
Kerala	74
Punjab	69.4
Maharashtra	67.2
Himachal Pradesh	67
Haryana	66.2
Tamil Nadu	66.2
Karnataka	65.3
West Bengal	64.9
Andhra Pradesh	64.4
Gujarat	64.1
India	63.5
Rajasthan	62
Bihar	61.6
Uttar Pradesh	60
Uttarkhand	60
Orissa	59.6
Assam	58.9
Jharkhand	58
Chhatisgarh	58
Madhya Pradesh	58

On diving deeper and looking at the life expectancy, region wise you should also ask why? Now I have added one more column to this region wise data i.e. per capita income

State	Life expectancy at birth (2011)	Per Capita Income (INR) Regionwise
Kerala	74	83725
Punjab	69.4	78171
Maharashtra	67.2	83471
Himachal Pradesh	67	73608
Haryana	66.2	94680
Tamil Nadu	66.2	72993
Karnataka	65.3	60946
West Bengal	64.9	48536
Andhra Pradesh	64.4	62912
Gujarat	64.1	75115
India	63.5	53331
Rajasthan	62	42434
Bihar	61.6	20708
Uttar Pradesh	60	26355
Uttarkhand	60	66368
Orissa	59.6	40412
Assam	58.9	30569
Jharkhand	58	29786
Chhatisgarh	58	41167
Madhya Pradesh	58	32222

So the regions that have low per capita income à Fewer people have access to Health care à Low Life Expectancy

Conclusion

The point of this article is too make you realize that "YES" life insurance should be a number one priority for poorer regions. Saving is good but securing the life on people who matter to you is also important. 

But to solve the puzzle, its important that people in these regions have access to health Insurance. Hospitals are not profitable in regions where people earn less and when they do not have health insurance this only increases the burden on the state. 

Solution

Financial companies that sell health insurance should be encouraged to or mandated by the government to sell health insurance in these poorer regions. Marketing budgets and message from the government educating people on "Why health insurance is important should be the focus".  

Health Insurance coverage --> Profitable hospitals --> Better Life expectancy Rates --> More productive work force --> Higher tax collection for the government --> Higher amount allocated towards healthcare spend --> WIN WIN FOR ALL