Here’s a novel solution to the caregiver crunch accompanying the graying of the West: Some Europeans are sending their elderly relations to nursing homes in other countries where the care is cheaper. Packing the elderly off to other countries might be better than putting them on ice floes, but but it still seems less than ideal for them to be so far from family when they are at their most frail and increasingly debilitated. If any kind of Boomer displacement is necessary to reduce health care costs, it would be much better for the “young old” to go abroad voluntarily and enjoy a good life on the cheap while they are still relatively mobile and independent. Either way, expect a lot more strange stuff like this to appear as the elderly population rises, especially in those countries with the biggest demographic bulges.

WaPo reports that Washington DC has launched a new program to help the elderly residents of nursing homes move back into their own homes. The program is part of a larger national trend toward de-institutionalizing eldercare. One way to help that process along while also shoring up financial support for struggling families would be to pay informal caregivers some kind of wage or tax credit for looking after elderly family members who need constant or daily attention. Given just how severe the caregiver shortage will be, and growing economic insecurity among the working-age population, incentivizing at-home care in this way could help kill two birds with one stone.

One tool Americans have for managing their eldercare expenses may be quietly fading away right when it is most needed. Long-term-care insurance allows Americans to pay an annual premium in exchange for coverage of eldercare expenses in nursing homes, assisted living programs, and even home care situations. But the WSJ reports this insurance is quickly becoming […]