The recent call from CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann to drastically reduce the number of statutory health insurance funds has drawn sharp criticism from the healthcare industry. Speaking to “Stern” Oliver Blatt, the CEO of the GKV-Spitzenverband, remarked, “This is yet another debate without substance that entirely ignores reality”. Blatt added that Linnemann seems unaware of the Financial Committee for Health’s report, which clearly demonstrates that the proportion of administrative expenses to total spending has been declining for years. He stated that the political representatives should push for real structural reforms rather than retreating into superficial debates.
Earlier, Linnemann had argued for consolidating the number of health insurance providers as part of the healthcare reform. He told RTL and ntv that “ten health insurance funds are sufficient in Germany”. According to him, many of the existing funds currently offer the same services, thereby creating significant administrative burdens. He asserted, “If I see billions being spent for nothing because there is no competition, then we must address that; which is why over 90 health insurance funds are too many”. The CDU General Secretary suggested eliminating smaller funds, citing a potential threshold of 200,000 or 250,000 insured members.
However, Blatt strongly rejected this line of reasoning in “Stern”. He pointed out that out of over a thousand health insurance funds in the 1990s, only 93 are involved in providing care and competing for good service today. Blatt claimed that the statutory health insurance funds serve as an excellent example of how care and administration can be efficiently organized and continuously optimized. He concluded that if all areas of the healthcare system were as adaptable to change as the health insurance funds, many problems would surely have been resolved long ago.