The revelation of the massive fraud in the settlement of rapid COVID-19 tests is making little progress. Only 57.9 million euros of the suspected billion-euro loss have been repaid by the test providers to the federal government, according to an overview sent by the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians to the Federal Ministry of Health on December 20, 2024 and reported by the “World”(Tuesday edition).
The amount is a mere fraction of the estimated damage: The “German Taxpayer Institute”, a research institute of the lobby association “Federation of Taxpayers”, estimates the sum to be between 1.5 and 2 billion euros.
According to the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, the repayment amounts of the federal states vary greatly. Baden-Württemberg, for example, repaid around 32 million euros, more than half of the total amount. Bavaria followed with 3.9 million and the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate with 3.5 million each. Eight federal states repaid less than one million euros.
Several health insurance associations, as reported by the “World”, stated that many lawsuits and criminal investigations are still pending and have not yet been concluded. Many test site operators are no longer in Germany or are in ongoing insolvency proceedings. Moreover, the “internal resources”for the settlement verification are limited, as stated by the Thuringian Health Insurance Association.
Experts, however, point out that the ongoing investigations are not the only reason for the slow progress in the clarification and repayment of the fraud sums. “The health insurance associations naturally shy away from the verification effort”said Matthias Warneke, scientific director of the “German Taxpayer Institute”.
Indeed, there is no financial incentive for the health insurance associations to engage in the laborious detective work, as the money they recover from the test providers flows directly to the federal government. The number of criminal complaints filed by the health insurance associations is also relatively low, as reported by the “World”based on a survey of the health insurance associations in the federal states.
For example, Bavaria filed 79 complaints, Hesse 63, Lower Saxony 44, Baden-Württemberg 41, the North Rhine health insurance association 40, Saxony-Anhalt 21, Thuringia 13 and Bremen 12.
Warneke criticized that, aside from political lip service, little has happened so far. His demand: “The Federal Ministry of Health could significantly ease the health insurance associations’ verification efforts if it systematically searched for fraud indicators using its own data analysis methods.”Then the health insurance associations could confront test site operators and demand corresponding repayments.
There are, according to Warneke, proven software methods for this. “The federal government and the states just need to want it”he said. “But unfortunately, there is a ‘let it slide’ mentality instead.”
Criticism also comes from the FDP. “It is incomprehensible that, in the face of an enormous loss for the taxpayer, which could reach the billion-euro mark, only a comparably tiny sum has been recovered so far”said Karsten Klein, FDP chairman in the Budget Committee and Bavarian state group leader of the FDP parliamentary group. The clarification of the massive fraud by test site operators must be made a top priority by Minister Lauterbach. “Criminals can still be found if only actively sought after.”
Furthermore, the budget politician demanded: “Karl Lauterbach must immediately check how comprehensively the health insurance associations and the federal states are searching for test fraudsters.”This is all the more important as both parties do not profit from the investigation’s success and the damage is borne solely by the federal government. “Due to the lack of incentive, the health insurance associations’ clarification interest may therefore be limited”Klein said.