The Eldery (re: healthcare)

[Shogun]

In the past 3 years I've had three grandparents die (and 2 several years before that). Two of them were hardcore Italian alcoholics and spent their last 5 or so years completely disconnected from reality (wasn't too far of a trip). The other three more or loss died of old age, but spent their last year or so confined to a nursing home, and miserable. With that, I ask...

Are we spending too much to prolong the life of the elderly?



I know it sounds heartless, but in my experience with 5 elderly family members it ranged from a waist of time (because they were no longer "them" anymore...not that "them" was much of a treat to begin with), or were simply miserable in a hospital bed with no hope of their situation improving.

Living through it with them, it seemed more cruel to keep them alive...and it was certainly a shyt ton more expensive.



Some numbers:

In 2008, all government (local, state and federal) spent $26,355 on average for each person 65 or older, most of which is Social Security and Medicare. (These numbers are adjusted to 2011 dollars. Newer state and local numbers are unavailable, and the federal numbers didn’t change dramatically between 2008 and 2011.) The federal government accounts for almost all spending on the elderly — averaging $25,455 per person.

Conversely, the federal government spends relatively little on children, and Medicaid is the largest single item. State and local governments spend much more on children because they pay for schools. But overall, governments spend far more than double on seniors than they do on children 18 and younger.

In the overall federal budget, nearly 4 in 10 dollars go to the elderly and disabled, a percentage that has nearly quadrupled in 50 years. About one in 10 dollars goes to children, a number stable for a decade. Spending on these two groups accounts for just over half the federal budget.

Federal spending on old and young, by the numbers

 

[the cac mamba]