Majority Feel Unsatisfied with Current Healthcare System, Reveals Poll
The latest survey conducted by Forsa on behalf of Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) reveals a significant increase in dissatisfaction with the German healthcare system. The survey, carried out in July 2023, indicates that 47% of people surveyed are less satisfied or dissatisfied with the system, a figure that represents a near quintupling since 2021.
Jens Baas, CEO of TK, commented that more people feel they're not getting adequate value for their continually rising contributions. The survey results indicate that the key issues driving this growing dissatisfaction include the strain from an aging population, bureaucratic inefficiencies and digitalization challenges, and a shortage of medical professionals.
The demographic shift means that by 2050, about one-third of Germans will be over 60. This demographic change strains the public health insurance system, as it relies heavily on young workers to finance retirees' medical expenses. With fewer young contributors, public insurance premiums are expected to rise dramatically, potentially reaching 25-32% of gross salary.
The move to e-prescriptions, mandatory since 2024, has faced significant technical issues, including outages and system unreliability. This disrupts pharmacies and patients and fuels dissatisfaction. Stakeholders call for both improved system stability and more flexible fallback solutions during outages. Additionally, healthcare is slow to adapt to new trends due to a decentralized, self-governing structure.
Healthcare professionals are insufficient for the demands of an aging population, exacerbating service delivery problems. To address this issue, workforce policy reforms, such as facilitating licensing and integration of foreign-trained doctors (e.g., refugees from Ukraine and Syria), could help alleviate the shortage.
While drug cost controls have moderated expenditures in the past, overall medical and pharmaceutical spending pressures contribute to financial strain on the system, which could further increase contribution rates. Enhancing the evaluation and efficacy of digital health applications could potentially reduce costs by revising approval processes to ensure digital health apps provide robust benefits, improving outcomes.
Potential solutions to prevent further contribution increases and system dissatisfaction involve digital modernization, improving reliability of digital services, workforce policy reforms, structural reforms to insurance financing, and enhancing the evaluation and efficacy of digital health applications. Together, these approaches target both operational inefficiencies causing dissatisfaction and systemic financial pressures threatening contribution stability.
However, it's important to note that the survey did not mention any improvements or changes in the German healthcare system, and it remains unclear if the improvements or changes in the system were considered in the new survey results. Currently, health insurers expect a deficit of up to eight billion euros by 2026.
TK is calling for an immediate program to prevent contribution increases in the coming year without reducing services. The survey's findings suggest that a fundamental reform of the German healthcare system is needed to address the mounting challenges and restore public confidence.
What could potentially improve the dissatisfaction with the German healthcare system and health insurers' projected deficits? - Enhancing digital modernization, improving the reliability of digital services, workforce policy reforms, structural reforms to insurance financing, and enhancing the evaluation and efficacy of digital health applications. Furthermore, understanding the role that science, medical-conditions, and health-and-wellness might play in alleviating the strain from an aging population, bureaucratic inefficiencies, digitalization challenges, and medical-professionals shortage is crucial.
