For one, there are lots of old people who aren't living with assisted or long-term care. For another, everyone's quality of life metrics are different: there ar

For one, there are lots of old people who aren't living with assisted or long-term care. For another, everyone's quality of life metrics are different: there are a lot of people who would be content to live through decades of poor health, provided they can otherwise do things that matter to them (see their relatives, read books, etc.). Voluntary suicide probably should be an option for those who don't want to continue their lives. But it doesn't evaporate the underlying problem, since many people (very reasonably) want to continue their lives through infirmity.