Curmudgeons at the Pool and health care!

   As I changed into my swimming togs at the 'Player's Club' in Hilton Head, I couldn't help noticing that the mean age of the 'athletes' must have been about 75.  Not all of them were going for a leisurely swim as I was.  Many of them were working out on a variety of machines that would have looked in place in a medieval torture chamber.  I watched some of them for a while and although some were obviously in great shape, others were not.  Indeed, a couple of them looked as though they could fall down at any moment.    I had noticed a few in the changing room who's scars indicated that they belong to the same cardiac club as I do.  Of course these morbid thoughts were induced by my erstwhile profession and if asked I would certainly have recommended that they continue their activity. This started me thinking about the "good old days", when anyone who had any cardiac symptoms, no matter how mild was confined and restricted in a manner which would be inconceivable today.  As I swam my laps in the pool, I speculated on the skills,resources and expense involved in maintaining the last few years of life. Now all of us 'old guys' want to live forever as long as we have our faculties (or think we have!), but the truth of the matter is that because of the very success of medicine it will not be possible to offer everything to everyone for much longer.  Costs are climbing exponentially and with every advance in medicine will continue to grow rapidly.  Understandably, patients will expect and demand all that is available, regardless of their age, and at each election, politicians of all stripes will make promises that they can't possibly keep, because the country will not be able to afford them  Once elected they will have to appear to at least be attempting to keep some of their promises and that will involve increasing taxes on the shrinking working age segment of the population which will of course be very unpopular and not a vote winner.  Their only other way of making more available will be to squeeze the health care system itself and they will do this ruthlessly.  Bullying physicians, nurses and other health care workers to do more for less by the government will initially be met with indifference or general approval from most of the population not directly involved with health care at the time.  Of course, as time goes by the general deterioration of  health care will become more apparent to the recipients of the services.   Unfortunately, politicians, unlike all other segments of the population bear no personal responsibility or liability beyond their term of office.  The worst that can happen to them is that they don't get re-elected. 
   The physicians of Ontario are already the victims of such systemic bullying.  Most of the population don't know about it and don't care.  Eventually they will.