End of life care is a luxury that we cannot afford at the moment.
Well, I don’t feel that a hip replacement is a luxury for end of life care. We could argue this at length, but I know that there will be some cases where the bone-on-bone grinding would be excruciating, and possibly causing enough pain to wish for death. I think that someone who decided it was not worth the cost to themselves or their families might consider an early exit. These are some of the toughest issues to try to balance: up front costs, financing, quality of life from pain relief and the possibility of regaining mobility.
I perfectly understand your position from the cost standpoint. I also except that there must be some cost containment on end of life care. I had been more concerned with the hospital costs of the last few months of life than with quality of life choice in the last decades of life. I would first focus on the costs in intensive care units which get (freely?) billed to Medicare.
It is expensive and it returns little back to the society.
Yes, it’s hard to see the tangible value to society; however, I think we may overlook the value to the families of the people suffering from degenerative joint diseases, etc. How much would seeing your mother of father suffer endlessly unto death affect your productivity at work?
For me the deciding factor is the affordability. If the surgical operation is too costly in the US, one could try to find a cheaper location, like India. Obviously, the market solution would be to allow insurers to find the right premiums, using a combination of Medicare and supplemental insurance options.
As to the veterans' care, it is a contract.
Yes, I fully agree. To me this is related to the true cost of war that is not often appreciated. I am not surprised when some want to limit this associated cost of war, for example:
76,000 soldiers 'chaptered out' of veterans' benefits since 2006
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