Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Kate Connolly — Germany ‘exporting’ elderly to foreign retirement homes

Growing numbers of elderly and sick Germans are being sent overseas for long-term care in retirement and rehabilitation centres because of rising costs and falling standards in Germany....
But with increasing numbers of Germans unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes, and an ageing and shrinking population, the number expected to be sent abroad in the next few years is only likely to rise. Experts describe it as a “time bomb”.
Germany’s chronic care crisis – the care industry suffers from lack of workers and soaring costs – has for years been mitigated by eastern Europeans migrating to Germany in growing numbers to care for the country’s elderly.
But the transfer of old people to eastern Europe is being seen as a new and desperate departure, indicating that even with imported, cheaper workers, the system is unworkable.
The Raw Story
Germany ‘exporting’ elderly to foreign retirement homes
Kate Connolly | The Guardian

"Innovation."

4 comments:

Matt Franko said...

Gotta' have workers available to make those BMWs and Benz's for export to accrue those balances...

if that means jettisoning Grandma then so be it...

rsp,

Ryan Harris said...

Export the old folks to Greece and Spain and send their pensions on, please.

Jose Guilherme said...

Great idea.

The pensions would help reduce the current account deficits of "fringe" Europe.

And perhaps some kind of incentive scheme could be added. Like for every German old timer accepted in southern Europe's health institutions the debt to Germany will be reduced by several thousand euros.

Sadly, this type of macabre accounting should please the Malthusian eurocrats who have grabbed power on the continent.

Jonf said...

Why not just put the old folks out on the ice? Cheaper yet that way. O wait! didn't the Germans do something like this once before?