AOK Plus homeopathy benefits instead of premium

Instead premium premium homeopathy at the AOK Plus

06/19/2012

The general local health insurance AOK Plus plans to spend around 20 million euros for homeopathy this year. Instead of paying a premium to the insured, as required by the policy, the health insurance wants instead to provide more health services to its members.

For the last year, the AOK Plus recorded a record surplus of around 354 million euros in additional revenue. This surplus is now to be passed on indirectly to the insured parties. The health insurance plans to expand the range of services and offer more offers in case of illness. A disbursement of the surpluses, as demanded by the Federal Government, is out of the question for the largest statutory health fund in Saxony and Thuringia with approximately 2.7 million insured persons who are liable for contributions. That was decided today by the Board of Directors in Erfurt. A large part of the surpluses should therefore„for bad times“ be created.

No premiums for insured persons
Already in 2010, the AOK recorded additional revenue of around 58 million euros. With the reserves of the previous years and the recent surpluses, the AOK Plus generates reserves of around 700 million euros, as chairman Rolf Steinbronn explained. Demands from the Federal Minister of Health Daniel Bahr (FDP), after the surpluses are to be paid to the members, assessed the fund as „pure campaign tactics“. In addition, such payments would be „Moreover, they would have to be taxed by the insured“, Chairman of the Board of Directors Sven Nobereit added. The amount that would be paid out would not be very high for the individual insured person. The additional revenue generated in 2011 would correspond to a premium income of just „14 calendar days“. According to the Federal Insurance Office, 2.5 months are allowed by law in order to safeguard the stability of the fund.

However, in order to provide the insured persons with the additional income indirectly and to assert themselves on the cash register market, the board of directors passed a so-called „offensive power“. As early as July 2012, the health insurance wants to refund women during pregnancy and underage members the cost of medicines that are not enshrined in the catalog of benefits of the statutory health insurance. Accordingly, patients of the insured groups „Non-prescription, but pharmacy-only medications get replaced“. In addition, give it „40 Euro subsidy per year for professional teeth cleaning from 18 years.“ Employees should also be granted a health bonus if they take part in preventive measures by the employer.

Homeopathy for children, adolescents and adults
Overall, the AOK Plus wants to provide more funding for homeopathy. These offers may, under certain conditions, be used by all members of the Fund. The health insurance expects additional expenditure of around 20 million euros. The services for homeopathy apply from September 2012. Already the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) undertakes the same model and refunds its insured homeopathy and naturopathy health services. Finally, a study also found that homeopathy saves costs in the healthcare system.

As a reason for the very good financial position, the AOK Plus indicates the good economic situation in 2011. In addition, the negotiated discount agreements with the pharmaceutical manufacturers had generated savings of around 80 million euros. Therefore, one renounced the additional contribution until at least the end of 2014. The surpluses were but „no cushion on which we can rest“, stressed the Chairman of the Board. Already this year, he expects overspending of around 300 million euros. These are mainly due to higher expenditures for medicines and increased medical fees. The rising life expectancy also let the „Scissors continue to grow between income and expenditure“. Although premium income increases by 1.4 percent per year, in contrast, spending rises by a good 3.9 percent. (Sb)

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Study: Homeopathy saves costs
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Image: filorosso.eu - Manfred Gerber