For sixty years newspaper articles have told me to plan ahead

I'm in Nova Scotia, and boy they're not kidding.

CBC news has reported excitedly that the government of Nova Scotia is increasing their annual stipend to “seniors” by a whopping $250, bringing the potential total to a whole $750. (CDN)

The headline:

In the body of the article it’s stated that it will “help them stay in their own homes longer in the face of lengthy waits to get into nursing homes.”

Bizarrely the spokesperson from CARP (“formerly known as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons“), a group which allegedly represents my interests, rejoices, “He called the increase wonderful and said it will make a "huge difference" for seniors living independently at home.”

Seriously? A “huge difference? Even if you’re one of the many surviving on a Canada Pension and Old Age Security of say $2000 a month - and some people get much less - $250 is sweet bugger all.

For example, if you’ve been in a drug store in recent years you’ll see posters and flyers all over the place urging you get vaccinated against shingles

It’s nasty, and persistent, and not treatable.

“There is no cure for shingles. It simply has to run its course. Treatment focuses on pain relief. Painkillers may help relieve some of the pain. Antiviral drugs may help lessen some of the symptoms and reduce nerve damage..”

So for older people, who may be more prone to infection, and possibly to being immuno-compromised, avoiding shingles makes a lot of sense.

Except….. the government of Nova Scotia (and I gather other provinces) refuses to pay for the vaccine. It requires two shots, a couple of months apart. Each shot cost me $212.19 after tax. But hey, I do get Airmiles…

My real question though is how much it would cost the Nova Scotia government to treat a case of shingles over the months or years that it is part of someone’s life? Surely it would be much, much more than the cost of the vaccines?

This sort of dynamic really sums up the state of senior supports in Nova Scotia. It brutal, and penny-pinching.

Given the sorry state of healthcare - our local emergency department is still closed most days - and the sorrier state of most care facilities, anyone my age has to look carefully at what’s on offer and think, “OK, I’m fine now, but what happens in ten years, or twenty?”

Right now I can be fairly self-sufficient, but I know that a time will come when that’s not the case. It’s frightening to be in Nova Scotia.