Germany accused of 'deporting' its elderly: Rising numbers moved to Asia and Eastern Europe because of sky-high care costs

Country's elderly and sick being sent abroad due to rising care costs
Situation described as 'inhumane deportation' and a huge 'alarm signal'
Warning to Britain where pensioners are selling homes to pay for healthcare

German pensioners are being sent to care homes in Eastern Europe and Asia in what has been described as an ‘inhumane deportation’.

Rising numbers of the elderly and sick are moved overseas for long-term care because of sky-high costs at home.

Some private healthcare providers are even building homes overseas, while state insurers are also investigating whether they can care for their clients abroad.

Experts describe a time bomb’ of increasing numbers unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes.

And they say the situation should be a warning to Britain, where rising numbers of pensioners are forced to sell their homes to pay for care.

The Sozialverband Deutschland (VdK), a socio-political advisory group, said the fact that many Germans were unable to afford the costs of a retirement home in their own country was a huge ‘alarm signal’.

‘We simply cannot let those people, who built Germany up to be what it is, be deported,’ VdK’s president Ulrike Mascher told The Guardian. ‘It is inhumane.’

Researchers found an estimated 7,146 German pensioners living in retirement homes in Hungary in 2011.

More than 3,000 were in the Czech Republic and more than 600 in Slovakia. There were also unknown numbers in Spain, Greece and the Ukraine, as well as Thailand and the Philippines.

Some told researchers they were there out of choice as costs were lower, while standards of care were often higher.

But many others admitted they moved reluctantly.

According to Germany’s federal bureau of statistics, more than 400,000 senior citizens cannot afford a German retirement home, a figure growing by around 5 per cent a year. This is because many are living for longer while their pensions are stagnating.

As a result, the Krankenkassen – or statutory insurers that make up Germany’s state insurance system – are discussing cheaper care in foreign retirement homes.

EU law prevents state insurers from signing contracts with overseas homes.

But that is likely to change as legislators are forced to respond to Europe’s ageing population.

Artur Frank, the owner of Senior Palace – which finds care homes for Germans in Slovakia – said it was wrong to suggest senior citizens were being ‘deported’.

‘Many are here of their own free will, the results of sensible decisions by their families who know they will be better off,’ he said.

I alol'd.

I did Nazi that coming.

This is what happens when you have rapidly rising health care costs, a health care system that's mandated to treat certain things and a balanced budget amendment that doesn't let it borrow money.

Interesting, if memory serves, Germany's healthcare system is similar to the US's pre-Obamacare.

If I lived in Germany I would never let another German put me on a train. History has shown that to be a less than wise decision.

Oh, and that same phenomena is happening to the US elderly. Many seniors are moving to countries cheaper to live in because the costs are too high here. Retirement homes here are pretty pricey, medical care is through the roof, and the cost of living is absurd. A friend at work is trying to talk some of us into retiring to Panama where it is warmer, cheaper, American friendly, and most of the Panamanians speak English.

Interesting, if memory serves, Germany's healthcare system is similar to the US's pre-Obamacare.

Event he number that alledgedly can't afford a retirement home; 400,000 or so, is really not outrageous given the overall aging of Germany's/Europe's the worlds population.

I believe that many of our healthcare woes will be greatly diminished once the worlds baby boomers have passed away.

I am waiting for the Milleniajungen to line us up against the wall and machine gun us for the good of the economy.

I am waiting for the Milleniajungen to line us up against the wall and machine gun us for the good of the economy.

Interesting, if memory serves, Germany's healthcare system is similar to the US's pre-Obamacare.

I believe that many of our healthcare woes will be greatly diminished once the worlds baby boomers have passed away.

No, actually the healthcare system is similar to Obamacare. In fact, it's a much more severely enforced version of Obamacare. In Germany, just like Obamacare, you are required to buy health insurance unless you pay a tax to opt out. The main differences between Germany and the US is that the compulsory insurance plans in Germany are nonprofits, (They're not run by the government, but they are nonprofits) while in the US you have to contract with a for-profit health insurer to avoid the tax.

Also, in Germany if your annual income isn't high enough, you're not allowed to opt out. You are required to purchase insurance from the nonprofits, this gets deducted from your paycheck whether you want it or not. They also have their own version of Medicaid that buys insurance for you if you're unemployed.

I am waiting for the Milleniajungen to line us up against the wall and machine gun us for the good of the economy.

I am waiting for the Milleniajungen to line us up against the wall and machine gun us for the good of the economy.

[...] it also seems that a large percentage of baby boomers have not done a good job of taking care of themselves during their life so also have a significant number of health issues which compounds the issue.

I'm not sure of the quantified evidence of this statement but it's one of the problems I have with our current insurance/care model. Insurance should cover catastrophic events not routine care. Routine care shouldn't be burdened with the cost of dealing with insurance billing system which is further complicated by the nature of Medicare/Medicaid and how that work with regards to cash paying customers.

Routine healthcare as least cumbersome as possible. If there was a way to make a fair graduated insurance structure i.e. people who neglect their health they would pay higher premiums and have higher deductibles, but the science of medicine is too immature to really create anything to realistically gauge the risk someone represents. My insurance carrier is trying to implement something similar but it uses outdated metrics such as BMI and the like.