I kind of hope I have the strength someday to follow your wife's aunt's example. I read an article once by a guy who said he wasn't going to have any invasive medical tests or treatments after 70, if he got there, and I hope I have the strength to follow that too.

I can well believe that's what the VA costs. More than a decade ago I had a routine c-section and the bills were more than 50 grand. Nobody can pay that--and that includes the "somewhere" these payments are all coming from.