I posted this earlier with a comment that the reporting in The Independent is complete nonsense, and has no relation at all with the study they reference. The executive summary in that study says

Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District, encompassing the southeastern  part of the state, is at the bottom of the rankings with an average life  expectancy of 72.6 years. Virginia's Eighth District, covering urban  northern Virginia, is at the top of the table with a life expectancy of 82.9--a  difference of more than a decade. Residents of Kentucky's Fifth District  have an average life expectancy equal to that of the average American  three decades ago.

Does The Independent really hire journalists that think that 82.9-72.6=30 (the average for Mississipi was not much different from Kentucky)? Or are unable to understand that the "three decades" refers to something else?

At least the British education system is not completely screwed up. The Guardian gets it right. They also give you lots of other details - the situation is bad enough without the need  to exaggerate.