The impact of longevity on health care systems

Abstract

Population's ageing and the increasing longevity of life are not spontaneous processes. In reality, it is a society's achievement that people are given a chance to live longer. This state is obviously achieved only when citizens take this opportunity seriously and contribute to the overall conditions with their own interests and behavioral choices. More importantly, with people living longer, the overall picture of the society is changing. It even forces grand financial schemes to change, including the health care one which must comply with societal changes. In this regard we can clearly perceive that some of the aspects that we could have been relying on in the past are becoming obsolete and new concepts emerge, that have to betaken seriously. The paper will be based on the overall picture of determinants and factors that poses longevity on health care systems. Specific situation in the Czech health care system, is assessed and the financing schemes used will be described, including current trends caused by economic downturn. The arguments for maintaining and enhancing schemes of health care financing without individual risk assessment will be discussed and presented to the participants.