We must consider how healthcare impacts quality as well as quantity of life. We cannot continue spending the greatest amount of Medicare dollars on healthcare in the final year / months of life. We need a commission of medical/ethical experts to make recommendations for using age and physical condition to determine what healthcare is rational and affordable.
Why is this important?
We need to focus on rational, sensible changes that make Medicare a sustainable benefit for the greatest number of people. The vast majority of Medicare funds are spent in the final year or months of a person's life. Health care now enables me to have a quality life despite heart disease and leukemia, but when the time comes that these diseases or just age are ending my life, it makes no sense to use vast healthcare funds to postpone death for a few months.
