The government says that life expectancy in the United States has risen to a new high, unexpectedly so. It stands at 78 years. How can this possibly be with our horrible health care system, I ask you? How can our life expectancy be up 78 years, unexpectedly so? The unexpected increase is due mainly to falling death rates. Well, duh. Of course, if the life expectancy is going up, people are not dying as soon as they did. "The increase is due mainly to falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death."

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U.S. life expectancy has risen to a new high, standing at nearly 78 years, the government reported Wednesday.

The increase is due mainly to falling rates in almost all leading causes of death. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2007 is nearly three months longer than for those born in 2006.

The preliminary data are based on about 90 percent of the death certificates collected in 2007. The information comes from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The United States continues to lag behind about 30 countries in estimated life span. Japan has the longest life expectancy: 83 for people born in 2007, according to the World Health Organization.