Germans are afraid for their retirement insurance

Most people in Germany are afraid of a lack of protection of care in old age

11/24/2011

Most Germans are worried about their retirement coverage and the development of the health care system. On behalf of the financial services provider MLP, the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy has carried out a representative survey on the retirement provision of Germans and the performance of the healthcare system. The pollsters found that a large part of the insured in this country has great concerns about health care in old age.

More than three quarters (77 percent) of those surveyed assume that their own precautionary measures via statutory long-term care insurance will not be enough to secure medical care as a long-term care case. The doctors interviewed also have massive doubts here. Around 80 percent of physicians are convinced that securing patients is not enough for nursing care. The physicians also see the shortage of doctors today as a grave problem that raises doubts about securing medical care in individual regions.

Trend towards two-class medicine
All in all, the Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach surveyed 2,262 insured persons in the current health report and found that around half of Germans are seriously concerned about their own financial security should they become a long-term care case in the future. Most respondents also expect significantly higher health care costs over the next ten years. According to the latest survey, 79 percent of surveyed insured persons expect further increases in statutory health insurance premiums and 73 percent expect further health care reforms. The survey participants also see clear tendencies towards a kind of two-tier medicine with the cash patients on the one hand and the private patients on the other. This assumption seems justified in view of the recent study by the Mannheimer Group on behalf of the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV) conducted study, because legally insured here indeed waiting much longer for an appointment as the private patients. In the current survey of the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach, 79 percent of respondents are convinced that the trend is increasingly towards two-class medicine. Many insured persons (61 percent) also assume that in the course of demographic change, the medical practices will reach their capacity limits and patients will therefore have problems with appointments.

Doctors warn against underestimated shortage of doctors
The growing burden in medical practices was also confirmed by the 522 physicians surveyed by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy. About two-thirds of physicians (65 percent) were convinced that there is already a shortage of doctors in Germany today. 23 percent expect this for the coming years. However, the physicians see significant regional differences. For example, medical care in some East German states is rated far more critically than in most regions of West Germany. Overall, 70 percent of physicians were convinced that politics currently underestimates the problem of the shortage of physicians and their effects. The reimbursement of costs in the statutory health insurance critically assessed many physicians. For example, 60 percent of physicians have previously postponed treatment to a later date for budgetary reasons. 16 percent of the physicians emphasized that this was even more the case with them.

Regional differences in medical care
Both the physicians surveyed and those insured see significant regional differences in medical care. For example, some federal states, such as Saxony and Berlin, performed extremely well in the evaluation (more than 80 percent were satisfied with health care), while the rating in other states such as Thuringia (52 percent satisfaction) is quite critical. According to the survey conducted by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy, people in metropolitan areas tend to be more satisfied with health care than in structurally weak and sparsely populated regions. According to the Institute, the obvious exception is the federal state of Brandenburg, where 79 percent of the population rate health care positively. The experts cite the proximity to Berlin as the reason for the high degree of satisfaction. The medical services of the capital would also be used by patients from the surrounding area. As a result, especially in the doctors in the outskirts of Berlin, the waiting rooms are often overcrowded. As a result, patients may have to wait longer for appointments, but Berlin's satisfaction with regional health care remains largely unaffected. Thus, according to the current study, 69 percent of the 104 Berliners interviewed have no problems with the waiting times at the doctor's and even appointments hold no difficulties for them. However, 31 percent were annoyed by the fact that they had to wait longer for the doctor when making appointments in the past, and in some cases waited longer in the waiting room despite the appointment.

Population satisfied with the quality of health care
However, satisfaction with the quality of health care throughout Germany is quite positive. For example, 72 percent of respondents rated the care as „Well“ or „very well“ and only 26 percent referred to them as „less well“ or „not good at all“. Accordingly, the satisfaction with the health services compared to the last investigation of the Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach on behalf of the financial services provider MLP increased by about eight percent (from 64 to 72 percent). However, respondents' current concerns are primarily focused on the future of the healthcare system and not on the current quality of care. (Fp)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann