Thirty years ago I was distressed by the NIH's relative disinterest in demential research. Anyone who could do arithmetic knew what was coming; the time for major action was 1982.
Now we have an "urgent" NIH program focusing on dementia [1] -- but it's 25 years too late. Post-boomers will face a deluge of former-people whose bodies outlast their brains. You'd call us Zombies, except that there will be a cure of sorts ...
... after due consideration, I decided on my own that I plainly would never want what LTC insurance buys, and, too, that this would be a bad deal. My bet is that, even in America, even as screwed up as our health care is, we baby-boomers watching our parents’ long and agonizing deaths won’t do this to ourselves. We will surely, we must surely, find a better, cheaper, quicker, kinder way out.
Meanwhile, since, like my mother, I can’t count on someone putting a pillow over my head, I’ll be trying to work out the timing and details of a do-it-yourself exit strategy. As should we all.
Things that can't go on don't. One way or another, America will figure out how to shorten the duration of Boomer dementia. My own plan is to buy a cottage by a cliff with no railings.
[1] "Better treatments by 2025", a meaningless goal that is sure to be met. Funded with $50 million, or what modern CEOs make every four months. Wake me up when it's funded with $50 billion.
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