Resistance is stirring:

Pensioners face losses of up to 8,000 euros

The losses from the planned increase in health insurance contributions will cost pensioners many thousands of euros. An expert has calculated what this will mean for each and every one of them.(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

It was an inconspicuous item on the list of blue-black austerity measures that the black-red-pink coalition has now adopted - and which will ultimately have a significant impact on pensioners' finances: the increase in health insurance contributions. An expert has calculated for "Krone" readers what concrete losses are threatened as a result.

It was one of the austerity measures that the then Finance Minister Gunter Mayr reported to Brussels in January. Inconspicuously, one line of the Excel document read: "Adjustments to health insurance contributions". The FPÖ and ÖVP wanted to raise a total of 270 million euros for the budget this year, which was one of the larger items on the list. The new three-party coalition is sticking to the plan: from June 1, the government wants to increase the burden on pensioners' salaries. The "Krone" shows in a clear graphic how much pensioners are likely to lose soon, depending on the amount of their own pension. However, strong resistance is already forming.