Medicine has advanced to a point where some serious illnesses can be kept at bay for decades. People with some formerly mortal diseases can get medicines that cost $100k/year and/or professional help every day, and live well for thirty years.
This means that each of rich societies has to choose:
1. Raise health insurance rates until the budget covers everything that's possible medically. However, in some rich countries, people's after-tax income is only a few doublings above the current health care plus pension costs...
2. Decide that some treatments aren't worthwhile, ie. everyone with Hyperthis or Abnormalthat Syndrome gets cheap palliative treatment and a peaceful, gentle death.
3. Decide on a per-patient basis, often involving numbers such as "cost of treatment" and "years left of productive life".
Option 1 is the humane way, but slightly impossible. Options 2 and 3 involve treating people like dollar signs, one way or another. It's an unpleasant choice, not an avoidable one.
