Were you to be asked which country least needs to urge its young adults to visit their parents, what nation would you choose? Almost surely China, right?
Wrong! This July, the government there put into practice a new law requiring them to do so. It’s called “Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People.” And it means business.
What’s the best way of improving this country’s ailing health care system?
The answer of many politicians is plain: just make cuts.
But that’s not the way Donald Berwick looks at the problem. This Boston-area physician, 66 years old, who until recently was President Obama’s director of Medicaid and Medicare, has a better idea.
A party at the home of our next-door friends and neighbors, Emily and George, proved notable for more than the cherries picked from their backyard tree and eaten by us guests. It also brought together ten adults, both old and young.
James and I met on the occasion of his 27th birthday. This African-American young man had come to my neighbor Cathy’s home to speak about his life and the agency that has turned him around.
His father is still in prison as he has been throughout James’s growing up. One of his brothers was murdered and another brother is also in prison.
The building where I go to swim each day has five doors on the way into the locker room. If others are walking behind me or in front of me, they often hold these doors open for me.
Many of these door holders are young people, college age. When I say “thank you,” they often say in return “no problem.” Those who don’t know me are likely to call me “sir.”
“The problem won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die.” They are elderly sick people in Japan. And the speaker is Taro Aso, the country’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
Aso, himself 72 years old, has a reputation for verbal gaffes. Well deserved, in this case. He had to take back what he said.
“I haven’t used it since the price went up.” Kiki Chaiton, an 82 year old who lives in Lynn with her husband, age 87, told me this about The Ride. Before last July, the MBTA charged four dollars for a round-trip; the price has now doubled. And that’s more than Kiki can afford.