Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

That money is protecting you from Russia. You’re going to love aging in a provincial state of Russia once you finally receive what you voted for.

Yeah I'm the bull poster and agree with the above. Appropriations for foreign affairs are absolutely vital to our safety and security.

We have plenty of money realistically. We just need to have the political will and willingness to funnel it all correctly

Don't you agree that funneling it correctly should mean taking care of our elderly citizens needs' first? Just about every other country does this including wealthy ones like Switzerland and Norway.

The problem I have is when a needy elderly American citizen needs housing or other support it is not available. Many here on the Elderly Forum will attest to that. IN PART it is because resources are going to support needy non-citizens. There are only so many affordable housing options available. And it's getting worse.

Just saw a local news program where HUD (and other public/private funds) went towards a brand new housing complex for immigrants families with children. Yet there are no options for poor elderly housing. When asked about it for a relative, we've been told to take them to a homeless shelter as there are no apartments or vouchers available unless you have small children - citizen or not. This has been going on for years.

The cold, hard truth about countries like Norway, Switzerland et al is that they accept that old people die. They don't authorize absurd medical interventions for 85 year olds or 90 year olds like we do in the US, nor do they prescribe anything remotely similar to the number of drugs we prescribe for older people. Their populations as a whole are much healthier to start (far less obesity, better diets, etc.).

They have a far more casual attitude that while it may be technically possible to provide open-heart surgery for someone that's 90...the quality of life after such surgery will likely be terrible...and they are 90. That's a ripe old age to leave this world. The US system reimburses for all these absurd procedures.

If the US adopted the same medical protocols for our elderly population, it would free up hundreds of billions that Medicare could allocate to supporting healthy elderly people that need housing and other services.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

That money is protecting you from Russia. You’re going to love aging in a provincial state of Russia once you finally receive what you voted for.

Yeah I'm the bull poster and agree with the above. Appropriations for foreign affairs are absolutely vital to our safety and security.

We have plenty of money realistically. We just need to have the political will and willingness to funnel it all correctly

Don't you agree that funneling it correctly should mean taking care of our elderly citizens needs' first? Just about every other country does this including wealthy ones like Switzerland and Norway.

The problem I have is when a needy elderly American citizen needs housing or other support it is not available. Many here on the Elderly Forum will attest to that. IN PART it is because resources are going to support needy non-citizens. There are only so many affordable housing options available. And it's getting worse.

Just saw a local news program where HUD (and other public/private funds) went towards a brand new housing complex for immigrants families with children. Yet there are no options for poor elderly housing. When asked about it for a relative, we've been told to take them to a homeless shelter as there are no apartments or vouchers available unless you have small children - citizen or not. This has been going on for years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She could always commit a serious crime and would then get shelter, food and basic medical care in the prison system.

And for those of you who think this is sarcasm, it's not. This may also be the only option for poor elderly Americans.

This woman isn’t an American. She’s an illegal immigrant who came here to exploit our country for her benefit, and the time for that is up. If she commits a serious crime now as you’re suggesting, she would likely be deported, which is exactly what should happen. Because as you rightly pointed out, taxpayers fund the criminal’s care in the case of someone being imprisoned - and why should we do that when those people are not our responsibility.

Anonymous wrote:She could always commit a serious crime and would then get shelter, food and basic medical care in the prison system.

And for those of you who think this is sarcasm, it's not. This may also be the only option for poor elderly Americans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

The money spent on Ukraine is worth 10x what we provide. We have managed to kill 500,000 Russian troops and exposed Russia’s military as inept and 3rd world…and we haven’t lost a single US citizen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

That money is protecting you from Russia. You’re going to love aging in a provincial state of Russia once you finally receive what you voted for.

Yeah I'm the bull poster and agree with the above. Appropriations for foreign affairs are absolutely vital to our safety and security.

We have plenty of money realistically. We just need to have the political will and willingness to funnel it all correctly

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

That money is protecting you from Russia. You’re going to love aging in a provincial state of Russia once you finally receive what you voted for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

+1 we have money for Ukraine though

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you desperately want to help her then take her in and take care of her yourself.

I don’t have the space or resources to provide 24/7 care

OP, and I say this gently -- neither does America.

That's bull and we all know it. And Im not even talking about immigrants.

We do not prioritize elderly care, or childcare, in this country for the neediest among us. Citizens or not. We are the wealthiest and greatest nation in the world and we let the elderly poor starve and freeze to death and molder away in sh°tty nursing homes because we do not care.

We have the space and the money. What we lack is the WILL and EMPATHY.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, thanks for your care and concern for your friend. What a sad situation for her. With no home to go back to, no family to help, no benefits here...she is lucky she is not entirely alone.

It breaks my heart to read all the inhumane and unkind replies here. If you have family, health, benefits, a safety net: you are LUCKIER than this woman. You are not more deserving.

There but for the grace of God go I, so they say. Or theee but for the sheer luck of how and where I was born, go I.

I suggest you go and do volunteer work with the elderly here in the US.

Do you have any idea of how many elderly Americans who are not in good health nor do they have funds to pay for medical expenses/prescriptions, do not have family who cares about them, their social security benefits are completely inadequate for basic living expenses, they wind up losing their homes or selling at a loss because of medical debt, and Federal/state/local programs have no support to provide them?

To be clear, these are people who do not have addiction issues, have worked and paid taxes their entire lives, raised their families without any government assistance, paid their bills on time/no debt, and have lived frugally. They are the ones who deserve your sympathy, or at least your vote to start funding care programs for the elderly.

If you think we are inhumane here in the US, I would challenge you to take two or three elderly Americans on a one-way flight to any other country (including European countries) and tell the authorities to take care of them until they die. How many do you think would accommodate them?

Zero. That's how many. Zero.

Not zero, no. In fact, my octogenarian father was visiting his brother on their farm in an EU country when he caught a cold, which led to pneumonia, which led to multi-organ shutdown. He was hospitalized for several days. He could have stayed there and his family encouraged him to, since it would be free. Instead, he opted to fly home to NY so he could die at home because he knew it would be more expensive for my mom and my brothers and me to fly his remains home and manage all the arrangements from overseas.

He had no money except his socual security income; he had no assets whatsoever except for a 20 year old car worth less than $500. He and my mom rented our whole lives. I quit my job to care for him at home on home hospice as Medicare would not pay for long term care and his Medicaid approval did not come through until after he died.

In the EU country, he was charged $50 for his initial hospital admission but they apologized for that and said he would apply to have it refunded once his admission lasted longer than 24 hours. His similar length ICU stay in CT resulted in bills of nearly $250,000 (covered mostly by Medicare but he had to pay his portion) but it was literally zero in the EI country. It would have been free for him to stay if he didn't insist on traveling.