Health Minister Nina Warken of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is reportedly anticipating a significant rise in contributions for Germany’s statutory health and long-term care insurance systems. According to sources present at recent discussions with reporters during ongoing budget negotiations and as reported by Politico, the average supplementary contribution within the statutory health insurance (GKV) system is projected to increase from the current 2.5% to between 3.0% and 3.1% by 2026.
This potential increase would place an additional burden of approximately €150 per year on both salaried employees and their employers who are covered by the statutory health insurance. Minister Warken reportedly indicated that this higher contribution is necessary despite the federal government’s planned €2.3 billion loan to the GKV. Without this loan, the supplementary contribution could potentially rise even further, reaching 3.3% or even 3.4%.
Sources also suggest the long-term care insurance contribution is facing a potential increase of 0.1 percentage points.
Health insurance funds have expressed concern regarding the proposed measures. Andreas Storm, CEO of DAK, stated that loans are not a sustainable solution and urged the federal government to increase its long-term financial support for citizens receiving welfare benefits who are enrolled in the statutory health insurance system, within the current budget cycle. The declared objective of the federal government remains the prevention of rising social security contributions.