That's pretty funny, but don't give them ideas. The average US Senator is 64. Gerontacracy is probably at least a symptom of the problem. There should be representation for a wide range of ages. We have lawmakers regulating the internet, that do not natively use it.

Medicare doesn’t really cover assisted living afaik, though Medicaid can cover parts of it. Old folks who run out of money can often become “dual eligible” for both programs. A quick search suggests that almost two thirds of people in long term care are reliant on Medicaid.

This is mostly correct. Although, some people have dual eligibility.

Most of them rely on both

That'll last for a couple of months, maybe a year. And then the Republicans will come for medicaid too. If they get away with gutting Medicare, what makes you think they won't do the same to medicaid?

Well, I guess that's one way to address shortfalls in pension funds.

I want to believe the best in people, but it seems so bad I find it unlikely things like this are an error or even negligence. Surely by this point, in a boardroom, at least one person in the decision-making process has asked, "Have we tried just letting them die?"

Kind of, except the cells just die.

Doesn’t Walmart train their employees on how to apply for SNAP benefits? I would imagine it’s not a huge leap to assume they don’t offer great health benefits too.

That would be a guaranteed code silver in about 5 minutes.

Apparently: