Ah! The mythical "Free Market" rears its ugly head once again. I mean now that it has provided high paying jobs for everybody and ended pollution, what's left, except to care for seniors?

justfine, "This is why we need to keep city and county governments separate. The city will adapt to meet the needs of its citizens. The county will not."

This makes me blue in the face.

My household incurs over $200 per month in gasoline costs attributable to getting just two family friends--a senior and a college student--to medical appointments, school, work, and grocery stores.

Both these individuals live inside the city limits and should be provided free--not discounted--bus transportation on the days/at the hours they require it, just like every other urban area in TN provides.

Compound this problem with a local community college system which has inexplicably chosen to build two of its four campuses outside the city limits, where no public transportation is available on any day or at any hour, AND requires many if not most students to jump back-and-forth between campuses in the course of a single day just to avail themselves of required classes not available at every campus, and you have a logistical nightmare of transportation issues.

I don't fault KAT and I don't fault Pellissippi, you understand. On trying to research why these issues exist, my distinct impression became that it's because both entities are grossly underfunded. Given the fees CAC has to charge for its (limited) services, it is apparently underfunded, as well.

If government doesn't fund these entities, I guarantee you someone else is--and it's either the middle-income folks trying to help people living just a rung beneath them or the lower-income folks themselves.

Market, schmarket. The market is self-serving and lacks a social conscience.

To clarify what I wrote above (to share that the family friends we try to help with transportation are city residents and to assert that KAT is underfunded), I was recalling Mayor Burchett's past reluctance to have Knox County fund even a discounted senior fare--much less free service for seniors and students.

I am aware that Mayor Rogero is a strong KAT supporter, so I would expect to learn that the city does its best to fund it.

To better return this thread to its original topic, it is Alzheimer's disease and/or dementia that I believe will be the biggest (and most costly) healthcare crises among Baby Boomers soon to retire.

Some facts and figures from The Alzheimer's Association:

--Every 67 seconds, someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer's
--One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's
--Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S.

Alzheimer's disease is the most expensive condition in the nation. In 2014, the direct costs to American society of caring for those with Alzheimer's will total an estimated $214 billion, including $150 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. Despite these staggering figures, Alzheimer's will cost an estimated $1.2 trillion (in today's dollars) in 2050.

Nearly one in every five dollars spent by Medicare is on people with Alzheimer's or another dementia. The average per-person Medicare spending for those with Alzheimer's and other dementias is three times higher than for those without these conditions. The average per-person Medicaid spending for seniors with Alzheimer's and other dementias is 19 times higher than average per-person Medicaid spending for all other seniors.

Betty, Kenny and I are just three folks here at KV whom I know have provided eldercare to a parent suffering from Alzheimer's and/or dementia and have spoken publicly of the toll it takes on caregivers, both emotionally and financially. Likely others of you here have a similar life experience.

As the Baby Boomer generation retires, government must expect its costs associated with helping Alzheimer's patients and their families to skyrocket.

"government should stand back and let the free market meet the demands of seniors"

That's almost offensive. There are so many things that can be done by local governments to assist seniors that do not cost a lot of money.
Keep our neighborhoods safe. Make it so we can safely sit on our porches, walk around the block.
Encourage/influence businesses to enter neighborhoods.
Push for broader public transportation with discounts for seniors.
Encourage/push major, large employers to support public transportation.
Encourage/push for multi-residential housing for non-students in safe neighborhoods with accessibility to stores, services, healthcare.