Some states are starting the preach saving up for end-of-life care to take the burden off taxpayers.
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I’d like to see more personal responsibility for middle-of-life care first.
Isn’t this what you are supposed to do during your life? That is to think ahead and save money to take care of yourself. It is an outrage that everyone thinks they should be taken care of.
I am a nursing home social worker and I will remain anonymous to keep my job. I have seen hundreds of examples of misuse of government money. Many patients who have families who no longer want to care for them, work to get on Medicaid, so that the patient gets to stay in the nursing home for free and the family gets to keep the money. Extraordinary efforts to maintain the health of the terminally ill (because the relatives feel guilty and don’t want to have to make any decisions) and the taxpayers have to pay for it all. As the population grows older, this will worsen. I can’t see how Medicaid (and Medicare) will be able to pay for all this nursing home care. I, myself, would rather have someone just wheel me to the edge of a cliff and let me hobble off it.
This is not callous. Old people have a duty to die and not bankrupt the system in their last two months of their life. When I am 85 and get pneumonia give me some oxygen, a kiss on the cheek, some ativan and maybe a little morphine if I am uncomfortable and let it be that. Don’t revive me and ventilate me and send me back and forth from the nursing home to ER to ICU to SNF to ER……like every family member insists upon.. It is cruel and criminal what family does to their loved ones. Think ahead and tattoo your advanced directive to your forehead.
“Think ahead and tattoo your advanced directive to your forehead.”
Not good enough. You come to my ER with DNR order tatooed on your head I’ll still intubate you if you don’t have a written and signed document. The lawyers will jump on me and Gang-bang me for believing Body Art.
How about us young ones with Cancer? Do we also have a duty to die, since we are terminal? I’m sorry, but that comment about people being old and having that duty, just hit me wrong. You see, I face dying young. I agree; however, in getting a health care proxy in place, get your directives in order, now. Any of you out there, pick a guardian for your children now. The problem is in human nature. People can not face the reality, we will die. 6 months before I was diagnosed with cancer. I took out a life insurance policy and named a beneficiary. That way they can bury, burn, whatever, and be able to cover the expense, on me. The most irresponsible thing you can do – is not protect the people you love, who will be stuck with the aftermath of your passing. I for one..have already said, pain meds. only. The rest isn’t something I will be able to control. Make sure you can have your homes paid for. Have plenty of coverage for rising costs of burial. Do it all now, before you get the call home.
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