Health Insurance Association Warns of New Round of Contribution Hikes if No Swift Action from Politics
The top association of statutory health insurance funds in Germany is warning of a new wave of contribution hikes if the government fails to take swift action. According to Florian Lanz, the association’s spokesperson, if no short-term or long-term measures are taken, a further increase in contributions would be the consequence, possibly as early as the next year-end adjustment, with no end to the hikes in sight.
Six health insurance funds have already submitted a request to the supervisory authority to increase their supplementary contribution rate as of July 1, the association stated. Eight health insurance funds have already raised their supplementary contribution rates since the beginning of the year.
Lanz reiterated the demand for an outlay moratorium, emphasizing the need for a pre-legislative bill to be passed before the summer break, which would impose a moratorium on outlays for all areas of the statutory health insurance system. This, he said, would ensure that health insurance funds no longer spend more than they take in.
Such a moratorium would not result in the elimination of any services, but rather would align future price and fee increases, for example for doctors, hospitals and pharmaceuticals, with the funds’ revenues. Lanz noted that this would be a transitional solution until structural reforms can restore the finances of the health insurance system to balance.