Leading representatives of statutory health insurance funds are discussing the concept of potential contribution rate reductions contingent on certain conditions within the framework of the planned healthcare reform, while simultaneously submitting specific expectations to policymakers.
Jens Baas, CEO of the Techniker Krankenkasse, told the newspaper that the responsibility now falls to politicians. He stressed the need for policy to remain consistent and avoid diluting the reform’s objectives. Baas pointed to additional avenues for improvement, suggesting proposals such as the fairer financing of healthcare costs for recipients of citizen’s basic income benefits, or savings derived from pharmaceuticals. According to Baas, if those measures are consistently implemented, contribution reductions could become possible.
Andreas Storm, CEO of the DAK, addressed the current stage of the legislative planning. Commenting to the same newspaper, Storm stated that, based on the current draft law, a reduction in contribution rates is unlikely. He stipulated clear prerequisites for any rate decrease: contribution rates could only be lowered if the costs for treating citizens benefiting from basic income are entirely covered by tax revenue.
Storm offered a more defined projection, adding that if the federal government were to gradually assume these expenses in full by 2030, a reduction in the contribution rate of 0.5 percentage points would be achievable.