Wealthy and Healthy? An Exploration of the Relationship between Pension Income, Healthcare Expenditure and the Health Status of the Elderly – A Study on Hungary

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between pension income and health consumption expenditure on the household level with a supporting analysis of the realtionship between individual pension income and health status. A relationship that becomes increasingly as health expenditures increase with ageing populations and changing pension systems. Using individual and household data from Hungary in 5 years over the span of 1999 to 2015, two multivariable regression analyses are carried out. The household and personal level are investigated seperately. The study finds that household pension income is significant for and positively associated with household health expenditure. On the individual leve, pension income is significantly and negatively associated with an individual health status regardless of gender.