” Here is a question I don’t think anybody is asking: How did we survive for 200 years without nursing homes busting the federal budget? I think part of the reason is that families used to take care of their own to a much greater extent than they do now. Families still do that in many cultures. “
Families still do that here, but not nearly enough, because Nanny state USA picks up the tab. They don’t have to do it.
Another Mephistophelian bargain from our "friends" in Washington. I think I would rather stay at home. My father had 11 brothers and sisters. Only one of them ever was in a nursing home, and she picked it out and paid for it herself.
There are people who can't make it without financial help, (e. g. those whose entire family are druggies) but I miss some of the old ways.