Despite notably higher expenditures, statutory health insurance funds concluded 2025 with a surplus of €3.5 billion, according to figures from the GKV Spitzenverband reported by the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (noz). Board chairman Oliver Blatt explained that total spending rose 7.8 percent-from €327 billion in 2024 to €352 billion in 2025-an increase that was confirmed in the fourth quarter, following the same trend as in the first three quarters.
Hospitals received the largest share of the funds. Spending on clinics climbed just under ten percent, reaching €111 billion. Outpatient care costs grew by 7.6 percent to €54 billion, while pharmacies spent €58 billion in total, a 5.9 percent rise compared with 2024.
Blatt cautioned that the surplus does not provide cause for complacency. “It is too small to replenish the reserves that insurers are required to hold” he said. Many statutory insurers had already increased their contributions during the past year, and at the start of the year the additional contribution rates were raised on average by one percentage point to 3.13 percent.
“Lowering that rate is currently illusory” Blatt added. “If effective structural reforms are not adopted this year to significantly reduce the spending increase, the bulk of insurers will have to raise contributions again by the next year‑end”. In December, the GKV Spitzenverband proposed a multi‑year savings package totaling €50 billion, targeting cost reductions in clinics, the elimination of partial double‑financing of doctor appointments, and pharmaceuticals.