The whole quote they added is worth reading.

Woolf says there are several proximate causes to consider, like the opioid epidemic, access to firearms, and high-calorie diets. However he stresses that focusing on these issues obscures the larger story of why the United States has been falling behind other developed countries for so long.

“The pervasiveness of the U.S. health disadvantage and the rise in mortality rates across so many causes of death call for consideration of systemic factors,” he writes. These include our broken healthcare system, a sky high poverty rate, and a lax regulatory environment that invites pollution and allows the sale of dangerous products. Woolf adds that our federalist system causes these problems to be exacerbated in certain states, leaving people living in the South, Appalachia, and rural communities at even greater risk of premature death.

“We know how to solve this. Other countries that have outperformed the United States for decades have demonstrated that better health outcomes are possible,” Woolf said in a statement. “What we lack in the United States is not solutions but political will.”

People in the US are dying of preventable diseases, preventable violence, and preventable poverty. The only logical conclusion is that it is done with intention.