Transition to Retirement and Use of Private Health Care

Abstract

Associations between retirement and changes in health care use have not been shown in a longitudinal setting. In the Finnish universal health care system, transition into retirement from employment entails loss of access to occupational health care that provides easily accessible primary health care services, which may cause changes in utilization of other health care sectors. The aim of this study was to find out whether transition into old-age retirement is associated with change in utilization of private health care. The panel data consist of a 30% random sample of the Finnish population aged 62–75 in 2006–2011. Register data on National Health Insurance compensation were linked to socio-demographic covariates. Fixed-effects logistic and Poisson regression models were used. Adjusted for changes in covariates, retirement from employment was associated especially with private general practitioner visits but also with specialist visits among both women and men. Interaction analyses showed that retirement was associated with an increase in private care use only among those with higher-than-median income. The results may indicate preferences for quick access to care, mistrust toward the universal system, and problems of the public system in delivering needed services.