The CDU’s General Secretary, Carsten Linnemann, advocates for eliminating the majority of the currently existing 93 statutory health insurance funds. Speaking to RTL and ntv, Linnemann stated that “ten health insurance funds in Germany are enough”. He argued that the multitude of funds usually offer the same benefits, creating excessive administrative overhead. “When I see that billions are spent for nothing because there is no competition, then we have to address it, which is why over 90 health insurance providers are too many”. The CDU general secretary suggested streamlining the system, particularly by removing smaller funds, citing a potential threshold of 200,000 or 250,000 insured members.
Linnemann also characterized Germany’s current healthcare system as very expensive and inefficient. He praised Health Minister Warken for largely implementing the recommendations from the statutory health insurance commission and urged the government to exceed these proposed savings. Furthermore, he demanded that policy ensure that insured individuals no longer have to contribute funds for recipients of citizen’s minimum income benefits.