In the coming year, many insured people will have to expect higher contributions to statutory health insurance. The Minister of Health calls for far-reaching reforms.
According to Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, the significant increase in health insurance contributions predicted by experts in the coming year is historic. In the Bundestag government survey, the SPD politician justified the enormous increase, among other things, with inflation and higher wages. In addition, the health system is very inefficient. “Our healthcare system is the most expensive healthcare system in Europe and its quality is not convincing.” Structural reforms have been neglected in recent decades.
Health insurance is becoming more and more expensive
Against this background, Lauterbach also campaigned for the traffic light coalition’s hospital reform, which will be voted on in the Bundestag this Thursday. It is intended to put the financing of clinics in Germany on a new basis. It is the largest hospital reform in 20 years. Only through structural reforms and more prevention can we get out of the spiral of constantly increasing contributions, he explained. “Without these structural reforms, the contribution rate would continue to rise.”
The so-called circle of estimators – a committee made up of experts from the health insurance companies, the Federal Office for Social Security and the Ministry of Health – had previously called for a mathematically necessary increase in the additional contribution of the health insurance companies by 0.8 points to average in the coming year, with a view to the expenses and income of the statutory health insurance 2.5 percent of the income subject to contributions is determined. The value is a theoretical quantity. Each health insurance company decides for itself how much the contribution rate actually increases.
Source: Stern
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