Private investors are pushing into the healthcare sector with great financial power. All taxpayers will have to pay for the returns, warns ÖÄK President Steinhart.
Vienna (OTS) – In addition to a current study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which shows a connection between privatization of health care facilities and a significant reduction in the quality of care, a second study also confirms the warnings of the Austrian Medical Association against the corporatization of medicine. In July, experts had already analyzed scientific studies from eight countries in the British Medical Journal, with the focus on the USA. Nursing homes, hospitals, group practices and other facilities were examined. The greatest consistency was found in the statement that ownership of healthcare facilities by private donors is associated with an increase in costs for patients or payers, such as health insurance companies.
“This study also clearly underlines our warnings about the increasing influence of private investors in the healthcare sector: the quality of care is decreasing while the system is becoming more expensive at the same time,” concludes Johannes Steinhart, President of the Austrian Medical Association. The study also stated that private corporations have spent over $200 billion on company acquisitions and investments in the healthcare sector since 2021 alone. “No system will be able to keep up with this financial power. Of course, these corporations want to see a return on their spending – and patients and the solidarity-based health systems, i.e. all taxpayers, will have to pay for this. And not just financially, but also through less security,” warns Steinhart. In Austria, the door has just been opened to corporations through the current health care reform. This must be corrected immediately: “I call on politicians to quickly pull the emergency brake before we see the same negative course that Germany is currently desperately trying to leave,” said Steinhart. The independent medical profession and Austria’s solidarity-based health system must be protected at all costs and patient well-being must always take precedence over economic interests.
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