The Association of Founders and Self-Employed People Germany (VGSD) has warned about an impending wave of business closures and a retreat into salaried employment due to plans by Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) to eliminate the free supplementary insurance for spouses. Andreas Lutz, the VGSD chairman, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (Thursday edition) that he anticipates a significant decline in the number of part-time self-employed individuals and corresponding business startups.
The background to this concern is the federal government’s intention to largely scrap the contribution-free family insurance for spouses to restructure the health insurance funds. This measure would particularly affect the self-employed, especially those earning less than 565 euros per month. Lutz fears that many affected individuals will be forced to give up their professional independence just to manage the costs. He suggested that many will face the choice of either abandoning their entrepreneurial dreams to move into a dependent “mid-job” or drastically expanding their self-employment, which could frequently conflict with family responsibilities.
The VGSD board estimates that self-employed individuals, who pay a minimum contribution of about 240 euros solely for health and long-term care insurance as voluntary contributors, would be left with only 410 euros after deducting health insurance costs from a 650 euro profit, and a net amount of just 290 euros after deducting income-dependent pension insurance. In contrast, a salaried worker in a comparable mid-job would have approximately 633 euros remaining after social security contributions.
To prevent this major social imbalance, the association is pushing for a fundamental reform of the contribution logic. Lutz demanded that if the family insurance benefit is eliminated, it must be replaced with a fair, income-based contribution assessment.