Statutory health insurance skeptical about additional billions in the election year

Coffers skeptical about additional billions from health funds
The health insurance companies in Germany should receive a huge cash injection of the federal government, in order to reduce the increase in contribution rates. The Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (SHI) currently sees no need for the additional billions of euros.

Billions of heavy cash from health funds
Only recently, plans were reported by the black-red federal government, according to which the statutory health insurance funds should receive a billion-cash injection from the health fund. The coffers themselves had previously stated that they feared higher spending due to the new integration law. But now reports the news agency dpa that the Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance (GKV) sees no need for the first time to take additional billions from the health fund for the medical care of refugees.

The federal government had recently announced to support the health insurance with a huge cash injection. The coffers, however, see no need for the additional billions. (Image: Zerbor / fotolia.com)

"No financial burden for the health insurance companies"
Doris Pfeiffer, CEO of the GKV-Spitzenverband, told the German Press Agency that these costs for the asylum seekers would be borne by the municipalities in the first 15 months. "Therefore, first of all, no financial burden for the health insurance." According to the information, the large coalition wants to avoid additional contributions to the health insurance in the election year 2017, an additional 1.5 billion euros from the health fund. The Federal Ministry of Health justifies the additional funds with the care of refugees and the expansion of telemedicine. The health fund currently has reserves of around ten billion euros.

Burdens on contributors should be avoided
"A good medical care of the refugees is in all our senses. But for me it is also clear that we should avoid additional burdens on the contributors, "said Minister of Health Hermann Gröhe (CDU) to the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday). "Therefore, we now take the necessary precautions." The CDU politician called it dpa "justifiable" to withdraw from the reserve of the health fund one billion euros for the supply of refugees. According to the information, another 500 million investments in the telemedical infrastructure will be financed. Telemedicine has long been propagated as an important measure against the shortage of doctors in rural areas.

Expensive reforms are a challenge for the coffers
As Pfeiffer further explained, at the moment it is not yet possible to seriously estimate how many asylum seekers actually get into compulsory health insurance through the receipt of unemployment benefit II (ALG II or Hartz IV). "Separated from this, we have been criticizing for quite some time that the contributions for ALG II recipients are generally not cost-covering. If health insurance companies are currently facing a real financial challenge, it is certainly the expensive reforms of the legislature, not the asylum seekers, "said Pfeiffer.

Overspending alone affects workers
The head of the political group of the SPD, Karl Lauterbach, believes that additional funding from the health fund for the medical care of refugees is justified. According to the report, he argued that additional costs for refugees should be covered by the Fund, at least in the short term, rather than the additional contributions borne by workers alone. The statutory cash contribution has been 14.6 percent of the gross monthly income since the decision of the grand coalition of the Union and the SPD, of which employers and employees each pay half. The variable additional contribution, which is set individually by the respective fund, the members must wear however alone. Overspending usually only increases the additional contributions and thus the burden on the employees. Even some health insurance companies criticize this model. So the DAK boss had classified the additional contribution as nonsensical. This leads to a senseless price competition and creeping "withdrawal of employers from financial responsibility". (Ad)