One, my dad had to catch a ride to work with a friend since Mom didn't have her own vehicle. Two, if she wanted to make a phone call, someone had to get off the line. You remember good ole' Ma Bell don't you? Who had more than 1 line? Three, we had to hoof it to the library to look up something in the encyclopedia, rather than just crank up the PC.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Just because medicine has changed doesn't mean the country is becoming poorer. On the contrary, the country has become so wealthy that even 'poor' people can now afford to kill themselves from all the luxury: limited physical blue collar work, a sea of cheap, used autos, and of course, the ability to inexpensively consume 5k+ calories a day.
The poverty to which I refer is not economical. It is social and cultural. We live in a society that values speed and convienience above all else. Your arguments illustrate my point. We have multiple phones, computers and the ability to engorge ourselves. This is not the outline of a population that is healthy. This, and the spiritual poverty that Mother Theresa spoke of are the real problems in our society.