[dlivingston]

As other commenters have pointed out, life expectancy is only one variable in measuring the quality of a healthcare system.

As an example, due to Europe's propensity for biking and walking relative to the US, that certainly has a positive effect on life expectancy.

Another example would be the high caloric diets of many Americans. This exists for historical reasons (see: the history of fried chicken and its relationship to the South) and for economic reasons (those in poverty disproportionately consume cheap and high-calorie diets).

Neither of these are related to the quality or availability of health coverage, but instead, are infrastructure / sociological issues.