How expensive should social insurance be in Germany? And how exactly should the billions be used? The insured should have more say in decision-making – according to a new proposal.
In order to strengthen democracy and stabilize social systems, the Federal Commissioner for Social Elections calls for this area to be anchored in the Basic Law. “Just carrying on as before – that’s not possible,” said Peter Weiß, who took over the office of Federal Election Commissioner after decades of service as a CDU member of the Bundestag.
Specifically, Weiß calls for constitutional status for social self-government. The self-governing bodies of existing institutions or corporations under public law would be affected in health, unemployment, pension and accident insurance.
Insured people should be allowed to make more decisions
At the same time, Weiß calls for the insured to have a greater say in benefits and contribution money. In the most recent social elections, around 52 million people were eligible to vote in 2023. Only around one in five took part. Compared to the previous social elections in 2017, participation fell by almost eight percentage points.
Exciting election campaigns?
According to the authors of the now published final report for the recent social elections, social security matters have the potential for “interesting election campaigns.” They write: “Do I have the choice between lower benefits, deductibles, a limited choice of service providers, etc. while at the same time reducing my Contribution burden?” But today the reality is that the legislature has generally already decided on all of this.
Final report social elections social budget 2023
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
