Bill endangers health care

Social association: bill of the Federal Ministry of Health threatens solidarity in the health service.

(10.09.2010) The people solidarity warns of a change of system from the statutory health insurance financed by solidarity insurance (GKV) to health insurance protection, which only the insured and patients finance. This was stated by the Federal Director of the Social and Welfare Association, Volkssolidarität, Dr. med. Bernd Niederlande, on Friday on the occasion of the hearing of the Federal Ministry of Health to the bill for the GKV financing. „The proposed bill is unsuitable for securing long-term sustainable and solidarity-based financing of health care costs. In particular, the people's solidarity rejects the new regulations on contribution collection provided for in the bill.“

The association has submitted its own opinion to the hearing of the Federal Ministry of Health, explaining its criticism of the bill. The feared system change is then mainly due to the stipulation of the employer contribution and the extension of the additional contributions. "Thus the principle of the equal financing is given up", so federation manager Netherlands. "The principle of solidarity-based funding is being abolished, and competition between health insurers is increasing the trend towards two-tier medicine and does not help address structural health problems."

The Netherlands criticized that the planned social compensation to be financed from tax revenue would "in many cases not be accurate". This would also compensate insufficiently for the overall heavier burden on the statutory insured because it is based on the average additional contribution and not on the real additional costs for the insured. "The result is that the existing social inequalities in health care continue to worsen."

The bill also do not worry for a better financial position of the GKV, emphasized the Netherlands. "The planned facilitated change from GKV insured persons with income above the compulsory insurance to private health insurance (PKV) from 2011 withdraws the funds from the public funds .The consequence is that the legally insured again the escape of the better earners from the solidarity system of the GKV with higher additional contributions have to balance. " The weakening of the solidarity character of the GKV and the introduction of additional contributions for the individual insurers would amount to a privatization of the SHI. "This is the wrong way to secure the necessary quality-assured health care for all citizens," said the Federal Managing Director. (Pm)

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