Health DGB demands relief for insured
Health: The German Trade Union Federation DGB demands extensive relief for the statutory health insurance
Before concluding the parliamentary consultations on health care reform, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) is calling for a relief from contributions to the insured and a sustained solidarity-based financing of statutory health insurance (SHI) with a five-point plan. DGB board member Annelie Buntenbach said on Monday in Berlin:
„We urge the Federal Government not to increase the burdens on insured persons as of 01 January 2011, but to reduce the contributions of the GKV members.
A relief for the insured is immediately feasible if the uniform contribution rate is completely uniform and the employee special contribution of 0.9 percentage points is abolished. After the federal government's planned increase in the contribution rate to 15.5 percentage points, the employer and the insured would then each contribute the same contribution rate of 7.75 percentage points. Thus, the 70 million insured by 0.15 percentage points - in comparison to the previous government plans even by 0.45 percentage points - be relieved. The parity contribution design is long overdue, socially equitable and economically useful. It is a dictate of social reason, the social security burden that the insured for years must contribute to the amount of 15 billion euros, finally compensate socially just.
The uniform contribution rate can even be lowered to 15.2 percentage points. For this we propose that the federal government raise the tax-financed contributions for ALGII recipients from currently € 126.05 to the amount of the average health insurance expenses of € 261 per insured person. As a result, contributors can be exonerated by € 3.7bn and contributions reduced by a further 0.3 percentage points. Instead of the contribution increase planned by the coalition, the insured persons could be relieved by 0.3 percentage points without jeopardizing the short-term stabilization of the SHI finances.
For long-term and sustainable solidary financing, the DGB proposes to increase the mandatory insurance limit and to abolish it in the medium term and to broaden the tax bases in order to include capital income. In this way, the revenue base can be sustainably and socially just stabilized and the long-term care for all citizens guaranteed.
On the other hand, a one-sided wave of encroachment on the part of the 70 million insured, as planned by the coalition with the freezing of employer contributions and the introduction of the capitation, is absolutely irresponsible. The decoupling of financing by the employers is completely irrational, not least because of the demographic challenges and will lead to it that head lump sums will hail only in such a few years in such a way. We urge the CDU, CSU and FDP delegates to defuse these time bombs and return to social reason instead.“ (pm, 08.11.2010)