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U.S., Florida Gov. DeSantis says shorter lifespans should protect people from losing Social Security and Medicare protection

"I think it started before COVID and I think it’s continued even here afterwards. I think it’s more than, more than just COVID. I mean, I think that there’s deaths of despair. I think you have (drugs),” DeSantis said. Life expectancy in the U.S. has decreased to 76.4 years in 2023 from 77.28 in 2020, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

4 comments

  • The article's summary paragraph at the top attributes a statement to DeSantis that he didn't make.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis says people aren’t living as long as they used to, so that should help protect them from losing Social Security and Medicare protections when they get old.

    That paraphrasing is deceptive, IMO. In the text of his remarks, it's clear that he's drawing an actuarial conclusion that lower lifespans eliminate the need to raise Social Security and Medicare benefit ages. What he actually said:

    So, I think it’s hard to say, you know, raise the age (for Social Security eligibility) when the average life expectancy is going down. We used to think that life expectancy was just going to keep going up and that’s just not been the case.

    DeSantis says plenty of crazy shit, we don't need to invent stupid things and pretend that he said them.