Infant mortality is in the U.S. almost double than in the Netherlands, where high-quality, state-supported medical services are easily available to all people.

COMPARED with many other peoples, Americans do not live very long. Though the U.S. leads the world in most measures of material success—personal income, production, profits—in life expectancy it ranks only 24th for men and ninth for women. American men live an average 67.1 years,* and American women…