DAK health after merger without additional contribution

The new DAK Health wants to abolish the additional contribution after the merger in April 2012

10/18/2011

The German employee health insurance DAK merges with the company health insurance BKK health and forms from the beginning of 2012 a common fund with the title DAK health. Shortly after the merger, both health insurances want to abolish their previously levied additional contribution.

The upcoming merger is good news for millions of statutory health insured of both funds. The newly formed DAK Health will, according to information from „Heilpraxisnet.de“ abolish the additional contribution of eight euros per month from the second quarter of 2012 onwards. The more than six million members thus save additional health costs of € 96 per insured per year.

Jochen Steigermann, insured of the DAK can hardly believe it. For a good two years, the employee has to spend eight euros every month for his health insurance. „I had already thought of a change, but always postponed the time“. At the turn of the year, the family man wanted to look for a box office. That remains for him now, after the announcement to abolish the additional contribution again, spared.

Efficient and lean structure
But what happened? Health economists claim from all sides, the expenditures of the legal health insurance companies require always new and higher contributions. It seems all the more astonishing that now just two health insurance companies announce the abolition of the unloved additional contributions, although both health insurance funds have been financially affected in recent years. After all, the additional contributions had to be introduced because of the desperate financial situation, because the allocations from the health fund were no longer sufficient. So what happened?? „The abolition of the additional contribution becomes possible because the merger brings economic benefits. The two funds bundle their contract management and their care offers“, explained Herbert Rebscher, CEO of DAK. Last year the DAK got one „more efficient and leaner structure“ created. „This reorganization process is also a reason for abolishing the additional contribution in the new year.“

New measures to streamline the structure were also sorely needed. With the introduction of the additional contributions almost two years ago, the DAK lost over 500,000 members. They all made use of their special right of termination and changed the provider. This again put the cash register in dire straits, because above all many high earners and young people turned their backs on the cash register. What remained were above-average numbers of the chronically ill and older health care patients, who often produce more than revenue.

Good development in the labor market provided additional income
Thus, the DAK and BKK Health had to streamline their structure in order to remain competitive. In addition, in the current year, the financial situation of the 150 statutory health insurance companies was better than many experts thought. All funds taken together generated a billion surplus in the first half of the year. The reason for this was the health reforms of the legislature. The austerity package and the premium increases at the beginning of the year showed initial effects. On the other hand, the extremely positive economic development on the labor market resulted in additional revenue. For the more insured persons are in bread and woe, the higher the revenue of the equality financed compulsory contributions. According to the company, the DAK was able to generate a surplus of around 300 million euros. In the house itself, the board says, one is now „leaner“.

Additional contributions hardly provided more revenue
In contrast to this, the hoped-for additional revenue was not covered by additional contributions. The contributions bring no new members, because hardly anyone changes into a health insurance, which costs more on the same conditions than others. The image therefore suffers greatly, especially as the press repeatedly points to this fact. Numerous smaller funds announced in the course of the year in turn, to abolish the additional contribution again. Other health insurance companies such as the AOK emphasize publicity „Guaranteed to introduce no additional contribution until 2013“. What is left to the newly created DAK health other than to abolish the additional contributions?

Mini amounts were of little use
Not even the hoped-for additional revenue could guarantee the mini-amounts. At the beginning of the year around 5 million people will pay an additional contribution to DAK Gesundheit. On the number of members of 6.6 million, one comes when insured unemployed spouse or children are counted. Accordingly, if five million contributors pay eight euros per month, half a billion euros will be paid each year. That sounds like a lot, but the annual budget of the merged DAK Health is estimated at 19 billion euros. According to this, 97 percent of the expenditures are financed from the allocations of the health fund. If the allocations only increase by 2.5 percent, DAK Gesundheit will receive the same amount of money as the additional contributions. Therefore, it also says from the board of the still existing BKK health: „For the customers of the BKK health, these are also good news“, said Thomas Bodmer, CEO of BKK-Gesundheit. „The planned merger will create a new, strong and financially sound fund.“

Additional contributions of health insurance companies will increase in the future
Does the withdrawal of the additional contributions mean that these were only an entertaining story of the health insurance companies? Not at all, because the black-yellow federal government plans to reduce the equal funding of health step by step. The health insurance funds should increase their spending on additional contributions. Even in a few years, not only progressive institutions expect, the question is no longer whether a fund raises an income-independent additional contribution, but how high this ultimately fails. As a result of demographic change and ever-increasing health care spending, spending by health insurances is also increasing. It is a good idea that the 2011 surplus in the health fund will not be passed on to the insured, as the Federal Ministry of Health recently announced, but rather as a liquidity reserve for the future. In addition, the government wants to use the reserves for social equalization to compensate low-income households for additional contributions.

The decision of the newly constituting DAK health is therefore correct, first to renounce the lump sums. Any further detention would have meant further financial problems in the medium term through membership churn. But even now, initial economic analyzes point to a sharp slowdown in the economy. In that case, DAK Gesundheit will certainly not be the only health insurance fund that will again introduce an additional contribution. (Sb)

Read about:
No health insurance increase in 2012
Difficult fusion of DAK and BKK health
DAK & BKK Gesundheit becomes DAK Gesundheit
DAK also demands an additional contribution in 2011
DAK: Job cuts through additional contributions

Picture: DAK Service