Heart breaking for many.

the article was talking about Australia, but I'm sure our numbers in the U.S. are climbing, also, maybe higher than the 1.1% they were talking about in Australia. Really scary thought and now Congress is going to take up universal health care. There may not be "death panels" in the bill, but whoever makes decisions about your health care, will consider how much "care" should you receive, especially when you have dementia--will they just let you toddle peacefully to your grave in your own time or will you be nudged along the way?

The focus on the "death panels" bemuses me. I am positive about the level of health care available in Australia. But it's limitations are always in the news. I am alive because of advances in medication that fitted my timeline. I will need a liver transplant in the next few years. If it happens, it will be paid for by my taxes. I have rationalised that the transplant won't happen because there are younger people who should have precedence. I will be my own "death panel" because I understand the system. It is just a matter of facing facts. And if I am lucky enough to sense dementia arriving, I will be more than my "death panel".