Our system now pays more money for procedures than it pays for care. These procedures are expensive. Worse, they often put frail elders at the mercy of doctors - most well-meaning, but some responding to pressure to make money - who want to do surgery or chemotherapy on someone who will soon die anyway, because that is what they are trained to do. An expensive, painful procedure often will put the elder through physical and psychic agony and can kill the person sooner than he or she would die if given pain management and loving care, which is generally more humane and less costly, overall.

Obviously, such care plans must be made separately, as each person is different. But we now live under a health system which rewards (even with intangibles such as respect from peers) specialists who perform the same awesome technical (and expensive) procedure on a frail, dying elder that they would on a young adult who likely has the chance of recovery. The wants and needs of the individual patient are often ignored.

If we are to come out of this health care emergency, many compromises will need to be made. But few would say an overhaul of the system isn't needed. Blame gets us nowhere. Living in the past gets us nowhere. Both political parties have intelligent, caring people who must work together to fix the problems we face, and make this country a healthy, thriving place to live and work with pride. Some of that pride will come when we see the health care ranking that our  resourceful country earns, when compared on a global scale, climb toward the top where it belongs.

For more information about Carol go to www.mindingourelders.com or www.mindingoureldersblogs.com.