Month: January 2025

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The Enigma of Digital Finance. How One Trader is Changing the Game! – Qhubo

A New Legend in Crypto: Who is Hawk Tuah Girl?
In the world of digital currency, a fresh and mysterious figure is capturing the attention of tech enthusiasts and investors alike. Hawk Tuah Girl, with her revolutionary trading techniques and deep insights, is rapidly becoming a beacon in the ever-changing landscape of cryptocurrency.
Blending Tradition with Innovation
Hawk Tuah Girl is a pseudonymous trader renowned for her unique investment strategies. She deftly combines age-old trading philosophies with modern blockchain innovations, creating a compelling approach that resonates with both experienced investors and curious newcomers. Her anonymity only adds to her charm, drawing in followers eager to emulate her success and capitalize on her knowledge.
Championing Decentralization and Equality
Beyond mere trading, Hawk Tuah Girl is deeply involved in the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) designed to revolutionize financial transparency and fairness. Her work champions accessibility, ensuring that even those unfamiliar with technology can engage with blockchain economies, thus democratizing access to financial systems.
A Visionary’s Role in the Future of Blockchain
As blockchain technology becomes an integral part of mainstream financial systems, visionaries like Hawk Tuah Girl are key to guiding new trends. Her groundbreaking strategies suggest a future where financial empowerment is readily accessible through decentralized frameworks, marking a shift from traditional banking institutions.
Bridging the Digital Divide
At the heart of Hawk Tuah Girl’s mission is making blockchain more user-friendly. Her designs simplify sophisticated systems, paving the way for a seamless interaction between old and new financial paradigms.
By actively challenging conventional financial wisdom, Hawk Tuah Girl is not just adapting to change; she is a driving force in defining what the future of digital finance looks like.
The Hawk Tuah Phenomenon: New Insights into Her Trading Techniques
In the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency, one enigmatic figure stands out: Hawk Tuah Girl. Her innovative trading methods have sparked a surge of intrigue and inspiration among investors and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Unlike traditional approaches, her strategies integrate advanced AI algorithms with blockchain technology, providing her followers with unique analytical tools to optimize their trading experiences.
Harnessing AI in Cryptocurrency Trading
Hawk Tuah Girl has been a pioneer in incorporating artificial intelligence into her trading strategies. By using machine learning models, she predicts market trends and adjusts her investments accordingly. This blend of AI and trading allows even novice investors to make informed decisions by understanding complex market patterns through simplified data analysis.
Revolutionary dApp Creations: Enhancing Financial Transparency
Going beyond personal trading success, Hawk Tuah Girl plays a significant role in developing cutting-edge decentralized applications (dApps) that promote transparency within financial systems. These applications stand as pillars for open and fair financial interactions, dismantling barriers typically faced by the unbanked and underbanked populations. Her work ensures that the principles of equality in finance become a reality, powered by the potential of blockchain.
Pros and Cons of Hawk Tuah Girl’s Approach
One of the significant advantages of Hawk Tuah Girl’s strategies is their accessibility. Her work allows everyday individuals to engage in crypto trading without needing extensive technical expertise. However, the complexity and unpredictability of AI models can pose a learning curve for some users, highlighting the need for continuous education in crypto innovations.
Comparing Hawk Tuah Girl’s Techniques with Traditional Methods
While traditional trading relies heavily on market analysis and historical data, Hawk Tuah Girl’s approach emphasizes real-time data and predictive modeling. This modernized trading method provides investors with immediate insights and adaptability, whereas traditional methods may lag in rapidly changing market conditions.
Sustainability in Blockchain: A Key Focus Area
A crucial aspect of Hawk Tuah Girl’s initiatives is her dedication to sustainability in blockchain technology. Her projects aim to reduce the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining by advocating for energy-efficient consensus mechanisms and supporting eco-friendly blockchain projects. This commitment positions her as a forward-thinker in ensuring the long-term viability of digital currencies.
Future Predictions: The Path Forward for Hawk Tuah Girl
As cryptocurrencies become more ingrained in global economies, Hawk Tuah Girl’s influence is expected to grow. She continues to champion financial empowerment and decentralized systems, shaping the future of finance. With tech-savvy insight and a passion for democratization, her role in the digital finance revolution remains pivotal.
For more insights into the evolving world of cryptocurrency and blockchain innovations, check out Cointelegraph.
Maddie Kreger is a seasoned writer and expert in the fields of new technologies and fintech. She holds a Master’s degree in Digital Innovation from Excelsior University, where she developed a strong foundation in emerging technologies and their impact on financial systems. With a career spanning over a decade, Maddie has honed her insights and analytical skills while working at BuzzTech Solutions, a leading firm in technology consultancy. Her work has been featured in numerous industry publications, where she explores the intersection of finance and technology. Passionate about educating others, Maddie aims to demystify complex topics and inspire innovation within the fintech landscape.
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Remembering the Fallen: A Day of Reflection and Unity

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How AI is being drafted for a digital cold war – Freethink

We are defaulting toward a world in which artificial intelligences are built to serve under national flags — as pawns (or perhaps chess engines) in support of rival national goals.
Should we be outraged about this trend, or grimly realistic? Resigned or rebellious? Either way, this conscription of AI should be more widely known, whether or not it can or should be opposed.

Few, though, will want to discuss governance or policy unless there is something truly urgent happening — that’s just how it is with the human brain — so first, let’s talk timelines of an AI worthy of the word “intelligence.”
Those leading today’s top AI labs generally believe that a model “smarter than a Nobel Prize winner across most relevant fields – biology, programming, math, engineering…” is likely due by “2026 or 2027,” according to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. That’s 12 to 36 months from the time of writing. 
A broader 2024 survey of 2,000 AI researchers put the chance of a 2027 date for human-level machine intelligence at merely 10% (!), which was still a huge update toward such early dates compared to previous iterations of the same survey.
Note that these more general artificial intelligences (or Nobel-worthy constructs) are distinct from so-called “superintelligence” — an action-taking agent more capable and intelligent than entire organizations or, in some definitions, the collective of humanity.
The date for such a superintelligence, according to OpenAI’s Sam Altman, is four to 15 years from now (2028 to 2039). Nobel winner Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, whose stated purpose is “to solve intelligence first, then use it to solve everything else,” believes their mission will be complete “within a decade.”
All of this might be an elaborate sales pitch or groupthink. Or the dates might be off by a few years. But the prospect of automating evolved human intelligence — a genius IQ in a thumb drive (or missile) — is not something that can be completely dismissed anymore.
In other media landscapes, the news that a model like o1 from OpenAI “exceeds human PhD-level accuracy on a benchmark of physics, biology, and chemistry problems” would be dominating headlines.
OK, so LLMs and AI more broadly are getting pretty impressive, and improving fast (e.g. by verifying their own answers and thinking them over). But why should we think these advances are being nationalized?
After all, Alphafold 3, which can “[predict] the structure and interactions of all of life’s molecules,” was just made freely available, work overseen by Deepmind’s Demis Hassabis. Almost anyone can access versions of ChatGPT for free, and Meta’s AIs are open-source. So shouldn’t we expect AI to be surrounded by fewer borders?
Not so much going forward. Anthropic’s Amodei, whose company is behind one of the most advanced language models, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, argued in October 2024 that “if we want AI to favor democracy and individual rights, we are going to have to fight for that outcome” and that “it seems very important that democracies have the upper hand on the world stage when powerful AI is created. AI-powered authoritarianism seems too terrible to contemplate, so democracies need to be able to set the terms by which powerful AI is brought into the world, both to avoid being overpowered by authoritarians and to prevent human rights abuses within authoritarian countries.” 
It’s not exactly clear what this entails, but it sounds a lot like AI enlisted in the service of winning a Cold War 2.0.
Not excited by that prospect? We have no choice, according to Sam Altman. In July, he said that “the urgent question of our time” is, “Who will control the future of AI?” He argued that it had to be America: “The United States currently has a lead in AI development, but continued leadership is far from guaranteed. Authoritarian governments the world over are willing to spend enormous amounts of money to catch up and ultimately overtake us.”
Indeed, “If we want a more democratic world, history tells us our only choice is to develop an AI strategy that will help create it, and that the nations and technologists who have a lead have a responsibility to make that choice — now.”
Altman proposed some prosaic policies: investment in cybersecurity and infrastructure, as well as clear rules for international investment and exports. But the underlying argument is that “democratic AI” must be protected, subsidized, and regulated in order to stay ahead of “authoritarian AI.”
This vision of conflict may be having practical effects. The New York Times recently reported that Meta has now allowed their models to be used by the US military “in a shift from its policy that prohibited the use of its technology for such efforts.” OpenAI quietly adjusted its policy in a similar direction in January. Microsoft, Amazon, and even Anthropic are now working with US defense and intelligence agencies.
Demis Hassabis, a Brit, has been more reticent to frame AI progress in national security terms. But the White House has not.
A memo recently issued by the Biden administration stated boldly in its title the goal of “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Fulfill National Security Objectives.” (Who expects the forthcoming Trump administration to be less America-First?) 
According to the White House, the race with China, among others, is on: “Although the United States has benefited from a head start in AI, competitors are working hard to catch up …  and may soon devote resources to research and development that United States AI developers cannot match without appropriately supportive Government policies and action. It is therefore the policy of the United States Government to enhance innovation … by bolstering key drivers of AI progress, such as technical talent and computational power.”
Needless to say, more primitive “AI” has already been used for years on battlefields, from semi-autonomous drone swarms in the Russia-Ukraine war to the IDF’s use of “an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties,” according to +972, a magazine founded in Tel Aviv. 
Technology has always been co-opted for war, but truly intelligent AI, let alone a superintelligence, is a different beast entirely — one we would be wise not to unleash on the battlefield.

Is it naïve to take a moment to picture a world in which cooperating nations gather their best talent and proportionally pool their resources to incrementally develop and understand powerful AI? Where AI is not used to advance a worldview, or win at war? Do we not owe it to future generations, and ourselves, to at least attempt a CERN for AI? 
Even if you disagree, the steady “nationalization” of AI is a fast-developing story that deserves more attention.

AI-designed microchips have more power, lower cost, and are changing the tech landscape.

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30 Years Later, 'A Goofy Movie' Is Still An Underrated Classic – Scary Mommy

Crushes, family dynamics, self-confidence… A Goofy Movie tackles it all.
Everyone loves to swoon over the big-eared mouse or dress up like a princess, but few people really show Disney pal Goofy the love he deserves. That extends to the quirky character’s 1995 film, A Goofy Movie, which takes a sweet, gentle look at parenting through the teen years and all the struggles that go along with it.
During the early years of the pandemic and TikTok’s rise to popularity, a bit of nostalgic tenderness swelled for the movie, thanks almost entirely to super-talented TikTok dancers attempting Max’s "I2I" dance. The fondness has grown slightly with the recorded cover of that same song featured on Disney’s new "pop-punk" album, A Whole New Sound.
With the sudden surge in popularity, a re-watch of A Goofy Movie seemed essential. And, gawrsh, did it deliver.
Admittedly, many movies made with parents and teens in mind can seem too grown-up for little kids. The themes aren’t relatable enough, or the language is a little saltier than you’d like. Luckily, Max and Goofy’s story is about as wholesome as it comes.
While the movie centers on some teen and parenting tropes (we’ll get into it shortly), there’s plenty for little kids to like, too. Goofy and Max are both klutzes, and their slip-ups lead to some epically silly — and, dare I say, action-packed — moments. Plus, even beyond "I2I," the entire soundtrack of A Goofy Movie is an absolute bop.
The relationship between Goofy and Max is at times tenuous, but Max is still a pretty decent kid, and Goofy is, well, Goofy. You won’t find any moments in this that might elicit poor behavior or bad attitudes from your kiddo. Even in the moments where those ‘tudes exist, they’re quickly illustrated as *cringe.*
Some of the overarching teen-parent themes are brilliant and worth addressing, though.
Max is a good kid with normal tendencies. His big act of rebellion early in the film is literally interrupting an assembly with a song and dance to impress a girl. Of course, the principal goes in hard. At one point, he even tells Goofy that Max’s behavior will land him in the electric chair. And while that’s sort of, ya know, ~yikes~, it also feels like a nice little elbow nudge to teens — a whispered, "See? Everyone’s principal is the worst."
It also offers Goofy a bit of grace. He didn’t get riled up over the incident; the principal exaggerated and stressed him out. Sure, you want your teen to respect authority and not interrupt assemblies, but Max’s stunt is fairly harmless. Moreover, he didn’t interrupt his principal out of defiance but merely as a chance to grab the stage when his crush was watching.
Max also deals with a crush, lies to impress her, struggles with his confidence, and desperately seeks understanding from his parents. Overall, the message to teens is clear: You’re not alone.
If you can watch A Goofy Movie without feeling absolutely gutted at least once, are you even a parent? The writers and creators clearly wanted to tell a story that would resonate with teens and their parents, albeit through the lens of the typically lighter animated movie format.
Goofy is a good dad. He may actually have been an OG gentle parent before gentle parenting became "a thing." He juggles work and raising a teenager who isn’t perfect but isn’t a bad kid. He handles almost everything with grace and patience, well beyond what most of us can offer. Bandit Heeler *wishes* he could be Goofy when Bluey grows up. Seriously.
When does Goofy fumble? When he asks Pete how he and PJ work as a father-son unit, Pete tells Goofy he needs to lay down the law and be strict with Max. But every kid, teen, and parent is different, and what you see from any parent-child relationship isn’t necessarily the entire picture. It turns out PJ is a kid who is terrified and resentful of his dad. So, while being strict and harsh might “work” for Pete, it’s not going to work for Goofy. And, sadly, he won’t figure that out until he tries.
Another super relatable moment? When Goofy is singing "On The Open Road," Max’s reaction is absolutely one we’ve all seen before. First, he’s cringing and rolling his eyes. Next, he’s singing along with mean and sarcastic lyrics. If you’ve ever had your tween or teen ask you to stop singing or scoff at your silliness (that they used to love), you know the kick-in-the-teeth feeling of the scene. If happy-go-lucky Goofy can feel that disconnect and tension with his kid, it should be a bit reassuring when you experience the same.
Of course, the climax of the movie coincides with the Powerline concert. Max is bound and determined to not only meet his superstar idol but also be on stage once again in front of his crush, Roxanne. While Goofy nudges Max towards being honest and authentic, he also helps make sure Max can chase his dream. Sure, it’s all done in the hysterical, mistake-riddled fashion you’d expect from Goofy, but our boys still get the job done. The big takeaway is that working together solved their problems and stabilized their once-rocky relationship.
And isn’t that what we want most for our kids? For them to know they’re not alone and they can always count on us?

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Junk food and drug use cut into life expectancy gains for states – NC Newsline

People line up for free food, groceries and clothing at a weekly distribution in 2023 in Huntington, W.Va., a community struggling with a declining manufacturing base and a surge in opioid addiction over recent years. Junk food, drug use and health policy decisions have affected U.S. life expectancy rates, and a new study projects that in 2050, West Virginia will rank last among the states. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
After large drops during the pandemic, life expectancy in the United States should recover to 2019 levels this year nationally and in 26 states — but not as fast as it should compared with similar countries, according to a new study.
Bad habits such as junk food, smoking and illicit drug use are preventing longer lifespans even as technology brings major progress in diseases such as cancer and heart disease, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
By 2050, U.S. life expectancy is projected to increase from 79.1 years to 80.4 years for babies born in that year, a modest improvement that would drop the United States behind nearly all other high-income countries, according to the study.
Poverty and inadequate health insurance are slowing progress in some states. Wealthier, more urban and better-educated states are doing better and are more likely to adopt policies that save lives, from curbing gun access to offering income supports for young mothers. Nine of the 10 states (all but North Dakota) with the longest life expectancies for babies born this year are dominated by Democrats, and all 10 have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. All 10 states with the shortest life expectancies are controlled by Republicans (though Kentucky has a Democratic governor), and they include five of the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid.
A Stateline analysis of data from the study shows how some states have risen, and some have tumbled, in terms of life expectancy.
In 1990, for example, New York and West Virginia were nearly tied at Nos. 39 and 41 among states’ life expectancy rankings. But the two have since taken sharply different paths — New York rose to No. 3 in 2024 and is projected to have the longest life expectancy of any state by 2050, passing Hawaii and Massachusetts.
West Virginia outranks only Mississippi in 2024 and is projected to be last among states in 2050. North Carolina, which was ranked 40th in 1990, has only moved up to 38th spot and is projected to remain there.
New York has benefited from good health care availability in New York City hospitals as well as state policies such as strict gun laws that have curbed suicides, and harm reduction policies to curb overdose deaths with supervised use sites and other controversial programs, said Brett Harris, president of the New York State Public Health Association and an associate professor in the University of Albany’s Department of Health Policy.
Harris said she’s not surprised that New York state, despite its ascent in life expectancy among states, would still drop from No. 33 to No. 41 by 2050 if ranked as a nation, according to the analysis.
“I think part of that is how individualistic we are in this country, the idea of always trying to get ahead, versus more of a community-based environment in other countries,” Harris said. “Their social policies tend to be better for health outcomes. If you live in more of a family environment versus an individualistic environment, that builds in more support.”
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West Virginia’s sparse population and rural poverty make it harder to get health care. It’s also hard to get past community and political skepticism about health measures, said Brian Huggins, health officer for Monongalia County, West Virginia. Huggins has worked with other county health officials to advocate for stricter anti-smoking laws and to maintain school vaccination mandates in the face of opposition.
“It hurts to see West Virginia ranked at the bottom. We’re a proud state,” said Huggins, adding that life expectancy there also is hampered by lack of economic opportunity that drives young, healthy residents to move away. A plethora of concerns include a lack of sidewalks that make healthy walking more hazardous, and a dietary culture that does not include vegetables; both promote obesity.
Huggins also has seen conditions abroad. While stationed in Germany for the U.S. Army, he saw generous health provisions for Germans, such as two-week retreats with massages and sauna baths for those feeling stressed or burned out at work.
“Their goal in Germany is they want you back at work. Prevention and keeping a healthy workforce are their priority because that contributes to the economy,” said Huggins. “On the other hand, they have built a tax system to support this. You pay like an 18% tax on everything you buy there — that would not be something Americans would necessarily accept.” Germany’s valued-added tax, now 19%, applies to most goods and services.
Life expectancy dropped two years in a row during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a national drop of more than 1.8 years between 2019 and 2020, from 79.1 to 77.3 years. Recovery will not be complete until this year, according to the projections, with slow progress predicted until 2050 — when the national life expectancy will be about 80.4 years.
Some of the states that recovered fastest from the pandemic were North Dakota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where life expectancy gained about a year between 2019 and 2024. Twenty-four states still haven’t regained their 2019 life expectancy.
The District of Columbia, which is not a state, had a lower life expectancy than all 50 states in 1990, but this year it ranks 23. Ali Mokdad, an author of the study and the chief strategy officer for population health at the University of Washington, said D.C.’s improvement is at least partly due to an influx of more affluent and well-educated people since 1990.
Most states that were in the top 10 in 1990 have fallen out: Colorado (from No. 7 to 11), Iowa (from No. 4 to 17), Kansas (from No. 8 to 36), Nebraska (from No. 9 to 19), South Dakota (from No. 10 to 21) and Utah (falling from No. 2 to 12).
Those new to the top 10 in 2024 compared with 1990 are: Massachusetts (from No. 13 to 2), New York (as mentioned from No. 39 to 3), California (from No. 24 to 4), New Jersey (from No. 26 to 6), Rhode Island (from No. 19 to 8), and Washington state (from No. 14 to 10).
Urban concentrations of people are important to long life because of the availability of top-flight care, said Mokdad.
“I’m very close to the hospital [in Seattle] and I have health insurance. But is that true for everyone in Washington state? You might live two or three hours from Seattle, so even for people of my income and education level it’s not the same,” Mokdad said.
Quality care and insurance also are important, Mokdad said, to ensure that problems such as obesity and high blood pressure are noted and controlled.
“You see obesity in many areas, especially the Southern states, has increased tremendously and while smoking has dropped in rich areas, it has stuck around in other communities. This is explaining many of these [state differences] — what we call preventable risk factors,” Mokdad said.
“There’s an increase in life expectancy but a lot of people are still left behind,” Mokdad said.
Even in urban areas, racial minority groups and women can find themselves in impoverished circumstances that can cut short both their lives and their children’s lives. One report in the same Lancet issue this month focused on a program in majority-Black Flint, Michigan, where doctors prescribe money for women from late pregnancy through the first year of a child’s life.
Families can’t make it to the doctor because they don’t have transportation. They have trouble eating healthy food because it’s too expensive.
– Dr. Mona Hanna, pediatrician in Flint, Michigan
The program, launched this year, is the first nationally to mimic some in 140 other nations that offer cash subsidies for child health, according to the article. The success of similar, temporary child tax credits early in the pandemic has prompted other states to adopt or expand their own tax credits for young mothers.
“We increasingly know that what happens in early childhood can impact life expectancy,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, a Flint pediatrician who founded the program, called Rx Kids. It relies on state help, in the form of permission to use federal funds, as well as private donations.
Michigan included $20 million in its state budget for next year to expand the program to other cities as well as to mostly white, rural counties in the state’s Upper Peninsula. The program grants $1,500 to expectant mothers plus $500 a month for the first year of the baby’s life.
“This is a concrete solution to conquer these place-based disparities and inequities,” Hanna said. “The stress of being born into poverty can lead to things like prematurity and low birth weight. Moms are more likely to have stress and maybe smoke. I see it every day. Families can’t make it to the doctor because they don’t have transportation. They have trouble eating healthy food because it’s too expensive.”
Rural areas in West Virginia could benefit from similar programs to address the state’s issues with poverty, aging and reliance on declining industries like coal, said Darren Liu, a health policy professor at the School of Public Health at West Virginia University.
To get more access to care for rural residents, the state should expand telemedicine, deploy more mobile clinics and offer student loan forgiveness for health care workers in rural areas, Liu told Stateline in an email.
Huggins, the county health officer in West Virginia, said money is a problem despite new federal guidelines that mandate many health screenings at no cost for insured patients. Often low-income patients get screenings but can’t afford to treat disabling conditions such as the knee and back pain they get from manual labor jobs.
“Because of the barriers that insurance companies put up, because they have to be profitable, I think that’s another reason why West Virginia is ranking low,” Huggins said. “That’s a barrier that we have to try to figure out. Almost any insurance now has well over a $1,000 deductible.”
by Tim Henderson, NC Newsline
January 2, 2025
by Tim Henderson, NC Newsline
January 2, 2025
After large drops during the pandemic, life expectancy in the United States should recover to 2019 levels this year nationally and in 26 states — but not as fast as it should compared with similar countries, according to a new study.
Bad habits such as junk food, smoking and illicit drug use are preventing longer lifespans even as technology brings major progress in diseases such as cancer and heart disease, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
By 2050, U.S. life expectancy is projected to increase from 79.1 years to 80.4 years for babies born in that year, a modest improvement that would drop the United States behind nearly all other high-income countries, according to the study.
Poverty and inadequate health insurance are slowing progress in some states. Wealthier, more urban and better-educated states are doing better and are more likely to adopt policies that save lives, from curbing gun access to offering income supports for young mothers. Nine of the 10 states (all but North Dakota) with the longest life expectancies for babies born this year are dominated by Democrats, and all 10 have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. All 10 states with the shortest life expectancies are controlled by Republicans (though Kentucky has a Democratic governor), and they include five of the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid.
A Stateline analysis of data from the study shows how some states have risen, and some have tumbled, in terms of life expectancy.
In 1990, for example, New York and West Virginia were nearly tied at Nos. 39 and 41 among states’ life expectancy rankings. But the two have since taken sharply different paths — New York rose to No. 3 in 2024 and is projected to have the longest life expectancy of any state by 2050, passing Hawaii and Massachusetts.
West Virginia outranks only Mississippi in 2024 and is projected to be last among states in 2050. North Carolina, which was ranked 40th in 1990, has only moved up to 38th spot and is projected to remain there.
New York has benefited from good health care availability in New York City hospitals as well as state policies such as strict gun laws that have curbed suicides, and harm reduction policies to curb overdose deaths with supervised use sites and other controversial programs, said Brett Harris, president of the New York State Public Health Association and an associate professor in the University of Albany’s Department of Health Policy.
Harris said she’s not surprised that New York state, despite its ascent in life expectancy among states, would still drop from No. 33 to No. 41 by 2050 if ranked as a nation, according to the analysis.
“I think part of that is how individualistic we are in this country, the idea of always trying to get ahead, versus more of a community-based environment in other countries,” Harris said. “Their social policies tend to be better for health outcomes. If you live in more of a family environment versus an individualistic environment, that builds in more support.”
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West Virginia’s sparse population and rural poverty make it harder to get health care. It’s also hard to get past community and political skepticism about health measures, said Brian Huggins, health officer for Monongalia County, West Virginia. Huggins has worked with other county health officials to advocate for stricter anti-smoking laws and to maintain school vaccination mandates in the face of opposition.
“It hurts to see West Virginia ranked at the bottom. We’re a proud state,” said Huggins, adding that life expectancy there also is hampered by lack of economic opportunity that drives young, healthy residents to move away. A plethora of concerns include a lack of sidewalks that make healthy walking more hazardous, and a dietary culture that does not include vegetables; both promote obesity.
Huggins also has seen conditions abroad. While stationed in Germany for the U.S. Army, he saw generous health provisions for Germans, such as two-week retreats with massages and sauna baths for those feeling stressed or burned out at work.
“Their goal in Germany is they want you back at work. Prevention and keeping a healthy workforce are their priority because that contributes to the economy,” said Huggins. “On the other hand, they have built a tax system to support this. You pay like an 18% tax on everything you buy there — that would not be something Americans would necessarily accept.” Germany’s valued-added tax, now 19%, applies to most goods and services.
Life expectancy dropped two years in a row during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a national drop of more than 1.8 years between 2019 and 2020, from 79.1 to 77.3 years. Recovery will not be complete until this year, according to the projections, with slow progress predicted until 2050 — when the national life expectancy will be about 80.4 years.
Some of the states that recovered fastest from the pandemic were North Dakota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where life expectancy gained about a year between 2019 and 2024. Twenty-four states still haven’t regained their 2019 life expectancy.
The District of Columbia, which is not a state, had a lower life expectancy than all 50 states in 1990, but this year it ranks 23. Ali Mokdad, an author of the study and the chief strategy officer for population health at the University of Washington, said D.C.’s improvement is at least partly due to an influx of more affluent and well-educated people since 1990.
Most states that were in the top 10 in 1990 have fallen out: Colorado (from No. 7 to 11), Iowa (from No. 4 to 17), Kansas (from No. 8 to 36), Nebraska (from No. 9 to 19), South Dakota (from No. 10 to 21) and Utah (falling from No. 2 to 12).
Those new to the top 10 in 2024 compared with 1990 are: Massachusetts (from No. 13 to 2), New York (as mentioned from No. 39 to 3), California (from No. 24 to 4), New Jersey (from No. 26 to 6), Rhode Island (from No. 19 to 8), and Washington state (from No. 14 to 10).
Urban concentrations of people are important to long life because of the availability of top-flight care, said Mokdad.
“I’m very close to the hospital [in Seattle] and I have health insurance. But is that true for everyone in Washington state? You might live two or three hours from Seattle, so even for people of my income and education level it’s not the same,” Mokdad said.
Quality care and insurance also are important, Mokdad said, to ensure that problems such as obesity and high blood pressure are noted and controlled.
“You see obesity in many areas, especially the Southern states, has increased tremendously and while smoking has dropped in rich areas, it has stuck around in other communities. This is explaining many of these [state differences] — what we call preventable risk factors,” Mokdad said.
“There’s an increase in life expectancy but a lot of people are still left behind,” Mokdad said.
Even in urban areas, racial minority groups and women can find themselves in impoverished circumstances that can cut short both their lives and their children’s lives. One report in the same Lancet issue this month focused on a program in majority-Black Flint, Michigan, where doctors prescribe money for women from late pregnancy through the first year of a child’s life.
– Dr. Mona Hanna, pediatrician in Flint, Michigan
The program, launched this year, is the first nationally to mimic some in 140 other nations that offer cash subsidies for child health, according to the article. The success of similar, temporary child tax credits early in the pandemic has prompted other states to adopt or expand their own tax credits for young mothers.
“We increasingly know that what happens in early childhood can impact life expectancy,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, a Flint pediatrician who founded the program, called Rx Kids. It relies on state help, in the form of permission to use federal funds, as well as private donations.
Michigan included $20 million in its state budget for next year to expand the program to other cities as well as to mostly white, rural counties in the state’s Upper Peninsula. The program grants $1,500 to expectant mothers plus $500 a month for the first year of the baby’s life.
“This is a concrete solution to conquer these place-based disparities and inequities,” Hanna said. “The stress of being born into poverty can lead to things like prematurity and low birth weight. Moms are more likely to have stress and maybe smoke. I see it every day. Families can’t make it to the doctor because they don’t have transportation. They have trouble eating healthy food because it’s too expensive.”
Rural areas in West Virginia could benefit from similar programs to address the state’s issues with poverty, aging and reliance on declining industries like coal, said Darren Liu, a health policy professor at the School of Public Health at West Virginia University.
To get more access to care for rural residents, the state should expand telemedicine, deploy more mobile clinics and offer student loan forgiveness for health care workers in rural areas, Liu told Stateline in an email.
Huggins, the county health officer in West Virginia, said money is a problem despite new federal guidelines that mandate many health screenings at no cost for insured patients. Often low-income patients get screenings but can’t afford to treat disabling conditions such as the knee and back pain they get from manual labor jobs.
“Because of the barriers that insurance companies put up, because they have to be profitable, I think that’s another reason why West Virginia is ranking low,” Huggins said. “That’s a barrier that we have to try to figure out. Almost any insurance now has well over a $1,000 deductible.”
NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com.
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Tim Henderson covers demographics for Stateline. Like NC Newsline, Stateline is an editorially independent part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.
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