Deficit of 967 million euros: According to Health Minister Lauterbach, the financial situation has been stabilized. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds expresses concerns and fears rising contributions.
Statutory health insurance companies (GKV) posted a deficit of 967 million euros in the first nine months of this year. The Federal Ministry of Health announced that the decisive factor for this are specified transfers from the cash reserves to stabilize the entire GKV finances.
Department head Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said that a law passed had succeeded in stabilizing the financial situation – otherwise a loss of 17 billion euros would have been expected. The cash registers made an important contribution to this. The goal remains to “improve the quality of medical care for patients without cutting services for citizens.”
Tense financial situation
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds warned that the deficit in the current year was a clear indication that the financial situation was tense. Against this background, the stalled negotiations on hospital reform are being observed with concern. It is feared that the federal and state governments will resolve their conflict by requiring statutory health insurance funds to transfer a few billion euros more to hospitals next year. “In the end, the 73 million people with statutory health insurance and their employers would be the ones who would finance the whole thing through further increases in contributions,” said a spokesman.
Average additional contribution of 1.7 percent for 2024
By the end of September, the 96 funds had income of 227.2 billion euros compared to expenses of 228.1 billion euros – of which 1.9 billion euros were for the legally required transfer from the reserves. The ministry has already announced an average additional contribution of 1.7 percent for 2024. The additional contribution actually charged on average was recently 1.51 percent, slightly below the average of 1.6 percent set for 2023.
The exact amount of the additional contribution for the 58 million fund members and 16 million co-insured people without contributions is determined by each fund individually; it can deviate from the average. The entire contribution also includes the general rate of 14.6 percent of the gross wage, which is shared by the employer and employee.
Source: Stern
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