Expected lifespans are important, even if you put your head in the sand. It is irrelevant how good your health care is for the top 10% of the population, you will never manage to establish this sort of care across the board. And yes, obesity is a health problem, not a "cultural" one, because it is the health care system that pays the price in the end. Persistent failure to tackle the problem as a health issue does not mean you just get to redefine it.
Note: The proportion of GDP devoted to health care has grown from 5% in 1962 to 16% today. Rising health-care costs appear to have suppressed wages, as firms seek to make up for the expense. America spends 53% more per head than the next most profligate country and almost two-and-a-half times the rich-country average..
There is a systemic problem in the US that is well document: that of wrong incentives in the system (over-testing by doctors because of bad payment models, lack of litigation protection, etc). Not easy to fix.
What are the chances that the law is now repealed, and "carefully regulated US companies" will be able to provide internet gambling? It's nothing but good old protectionism at work, we shall see..
God doesn't play dice. -- Albert Einstein