Alarming future: More seniors, fewer contributors in Austria!

Alarming future: More seniors, fewer contributors in Austria!

The chairman of the umbrella organization of social insurance providers, Peter McDonald, today pointed out the increasing challenges for the healthcare system in Austria. Given the demographic changes, the financial burden on health insurance companies will increase significantly in the coming years. There are currently 1.8 million people over 65 living in Austria, which represents an increase of 50 percent compared to 25 years ago. McDonald warns that number could rise to 2.7 million in 25 years, another 50 percent increase. This development goes hand in hand with a decline in the number of people of working age, which will fall by 300,000 people.

Such a change has not only social but also significant financial implications. According to estimates, health insurance companies will suffer a loss of revenue of almost one billion euros as a result of this demographic development. McDonald highlights that older people use medical services very frequently - on average 26 times per year, while the corresponding figure for those under 65 is just 12. This means that health insurance companies are faced with the challenge of meeting rising health care costs.

Health situation of older people

Additional findings on the overall health situation of the older population come from the epidemiological longitudinal study “Health 65+”. This study examined the health situation of people aged 65 and over in Germany. Between June 2021 and April 2022, 3,694 people took part in the survey, whose average age was 78.8 years. The results show that 52.0 percent of participants reported good or very good health and 78.5 percent reported high or very high life satisfaction.

However, there were also worrying results. 69.2 percent of those surveyed reported multimorbidity, while 5.3 percent suffered from severe visual impairments. Women had poorer health compared to men, and older people aged 80 and over in particular had significantly more health problems than those aged 65 to 79. There was also a clear educational gradient: people with higher education had better overall health than less well-educated people.

Recognize need for action

The results of both reports illustrate the need for comprehensive health reporting for older people in order to be able to develop targeted recommendations for policy action. McDonald calls for a discussion about new approaches to patient management, health literacy and prevention. In particular, greater focus should be placed on the responsibility of the individual with regard to their health care.

Given the numerous challenges facing the healthcare system due to demographic change, it remains to be seen what measures politicians will take to ensure care for the older generation.

For further information on demographic developments and their impact on the healthcare system, see also the reports from courier and RKI.