Its amazing how people are still unaware of this after so many documentaries, reports, advocacy on the matter.
Just google. "Neoliberal privatization tactics", "Economic hitmen" (that was a pretty popular take), neoliberalism etc.
> more (old) people are using health care.
Irrelevant. The number of older people in any country is not enough to bankrupt healthcare systems Healthcare is a function of the percentage of national GDP spent on it. If there are more people, you have more GDP, you can spend more. If you have less people, you cant spend more but you also have less people.
Blaming the problems on irrelevant 'reasons' is one of the ways in which privatization is hidden from sight - just check how many cuts have been made to the healthcare spending in your own country in the past 40 years, and how much. There you will have your answer.
We’re currently at €7000 per person per year spent on health care, with average salaries being €36.000 annually. This is unsustainable.
> Wait times for medical care seem surreal.
Its due to the governments defunding public healthcare in order to 'strangle it then save it'. You defund it, make people say 'it doesnt work', then say that "We need to privatize it."
Its de facto privatization method used since Reagan/Thatcher. Same method is being used in any country that ends up with a 'privatizing' government.