Health insurance DAK boss classifies additional contribution as nonsensical one

The income-related additional contribution introduced in the statutory health insurance at the beginning of the year increasingly divides the stock of health insurance companies. The CEO of the third largest German health insurance fund, Herbert Rebscher, now criticizes: "Nonsensical price competition and gradual withdrawal of employers from financial responsibility are the results of the introduction of additional contributions in the statutory health insurance. Since there is no consistent regulatory focus, the actual goal of social health insurance is rapidly disappearing. "
Representatives of health insurances and their associations have so far been more concerned with fundamental criticism, since at the beginning of the year they have at least partially recovered their autonomy of contributions after six years of a single contribution. On the other hand, they publicly complain that the reform efforts of the coalition continue to push up the additional contribution. At the beginning of 2016, it will increase by an average of 0.2 percent. For individual funds, however, rates of increase of up to 0.6 percent are also under discussion.

DAK chief refuses additional contributions. Image: DOC RABE Media - fotolia

The German Council of Economic Experts (Sachverständigenrat) for assessing developments in the health sector warned in 2012 in a special report - in the spirit of the DAK chief: "It makes sense that the health insurers should pay more attention to the comparatively obvious and catchy contributions in the insurance sector than to "It is important not to stigmatize the additional contributions as indicators of inefficient health insurances per se," say the experts.

Insured persons are even more likely to pay attention to the contributions than the insurances themselves. Empirical data on the additional cash contribution introduced in 2009 showed that, on balance, around 90 per cent of the members' losses occurred with those health insurers who demanded an additional contribution. This is hardly surprising: insured persons could save over 400 euros a year with a change to a cheaper health insurance, headline consumer media this fall and thus push for "health insurance surfing". Quality competition remains on the track.

With Prof. dr. H. c. Herbert Rebscher discusses the controversial topic at the Health Congress of the West in Cologne in March: Rudolf Henke, MP, President of the Medical Association North Rhine and Board Marburger Bund, Hilde Mattheis, MP, health spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Dr. med. Gerhard Nordmann, 2nd Chairman of the KV Westfalen-Lippe and Birgit Fischer, Chief Executive of the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.

The Health Congress of the West 2016 will take place on the 8th and 9th of March at the Congress Center Gürzenich in Cologne. Around 900 visitors are expected again - hospital managers, doctors, health policy and health care companies, researchers and scientists.