Quote Originally Posted by Bjauck View Post
The cost of good quality long term care with an ageing population is an ongoing issue. Various scenarios (and combinations thereof) for the government for meeting increasing costs:

(1) Reducing the quality of care
(2) Increasing the number of residents who contribute to the costs
(3) No longer subsidising the cost of hospital level care for “wealthy” residents.
(4) Nationalising rest homes or building State Institutions - this is often a left-wing solution (a beguiling solution for some socialists). This could come about if government refuses to pay more for the cost of care to private providers - and private providers refuse to provide more beds to meet demand. Most on both left and right would dismiss this option as doomed to fail.
(5)Increasing taxes, introducing new taxes to provide enough money for first rate care...(Hello to our old friend the TAX Working Group!)Mark my words. GST Will go up
(6) Letting Robots take over. Maybe technology will come to the rescue if carers price themselves too high. Who knows what sensors in the rooms and robotic toilets and lifting gadgets may be able to do in a few years....
Remember you read it from me first