Health insurance exempt from contribution debts

Those affected should contact their cashier by 31st December

23/10/2013

Persons who currently have no valid health insurance and debts to their health insurance should report to their health insurance fund by 31 December at the latest. Because then there is a chance that the open payments will be waived. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the period without insurance was longer than three months and a subsequent assumption of treatment costs is waived.

140,000 people officially without health insurance
More than 140,000 people in Germany officially have no health insurance, including many small business owners and low-paid workers, who have so far been unable to pay their monthly contributions, thereby quickly accumulating thousands of euros in debt. Since 2007, there is a general health insurance. The problem with this: Those who were not previously insured, so far had to pay contributions and penalties for the period without insurance coverage when entering a statutory health insurance - a major reason why many sufferers so far shun the transition to a health insurance.

Even adult children have to insure themselves completely
What many do not know: even adult children, who are no longer insured by a parent due to their age or after completion of vocational training, must insure themselves without interruption in order to continue to be entitled to all benefits of the health insurance. If this does not happen, high debts accumulate quickly, especially because all non-insured months must also be paid as soon as you want to reassure yourself. Since 2009, this regulation has also applied to privately insured persons, which meant that self-employed persons without health insurance had to pay large sums to date.

„Law on the elimination of social overload“ in force since August
But now there is a new opportunity for those affected, because as the consumer center informed North Rhine-Westphalia, anyone who is currently uninsured, either new debt-free insure or resume the old membership. The basis here is the one that came into force in August 2013 „Law on the elimination of social overburdening of contribution debts in health insurance ", which, according to the former Minister of Health Daniel Bahr (FDP) is an important step, „to defuse the problem of social overstrain of defaulting debtors.“ However, a prerequisite here is that those affected reassure themselves by 31 December or re-register with their old health insurance. In addition, they must first have been without insurance for at least three months and refrain from accepting treatment costs retrospectively.

Acceptance of all contributions and the surcharges for late payments
If this is true, so would legally insured, according to the Consumer Central NRW „to waive all contributions and the applicable late payment surcharges for their uninsured time. This also applies to already insured persons who have arrears from the period without insurance.“ Who only after the 31.12. logs on, could still with „a reasonable reduction and the remission of late payments“ expected. In addition, other premium arrears would reduce the late payment premium for unpaid contributions retroactively and in the future from five to one percent.

Private insured we „premium surcharge“ enact
If you are insured by the end of the year in a private health insurance, you get the so-called „premium surcharge“ The same applies to those who are already insured, but who still have arrears from premium supplements from the past. Anyone who has to insure himself privately but can not afford the contributions now pays one according to the new law „emergency tariff“ - since this is also possible retroactively, financially weaker private insured persons can thus reduce their debts.

From 2014 additional payment of missed contributions due again
Those affected should, however, keep an urgent eye on December 31, because then the chance of forgiving missed contributions will end: „Starting in the new year, contributions to the uninsured period will be payable retroactively when going into a health insurance ", warned Regine Behrendt (VZ) to the news agency „dpa“. (No)