Health insurance financial position getting worse

Health insurance: Financial situation is deteriorating continuously

04/01/2015

Due to the general cost increase and because of the aging society, the financial position of the statutory health insurance in Germany will deteriorate significantly in the opinion of Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). Maybe this will be noticeable in the coming years in the insurance contributions.

Older society and general cost increase
According to the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), the financial situation of the statutory health insurance funds (GKV) will continue to deteriorate over the next few years. There are essentially two reasons for this, as TK CEO Jens Baas told the German Press Agency: Demographic change, in other words the aging society in Germany, accounts for the smaller part of the cost increase. The bigger part will be the general cost increase. "That's actually the part that politics has to tackle," the expert said.

Cost increase higher than revenue increase
The costs would rise by about five percent per year. But the increase in revenue falls significantly lower. "And that means that the gap between them is widening." It also states that the federal and state governments will not be willing to tackle the problem in the foreseeable future. "Only when things get tight will something happen. And that's not expected in the next two or three years, "says Baas. But already now the financial position of the approximately 130 statutory health insurance companies is deteriorating rapidly. At present, this is still hidden by reserves at the funds and in the health fund.

Rising health insurance contributions expected
In recent months, in connection with the additional contributions that have been allowed to levy the funds since 1 January, it has often been discussed that the health insurances currently have larger financial cushions. But experts have warned for a long time that these will not last too long. As a result, insurance premiums may increase in the coming years due to the problems described above. For example, Baas said a few weeks ago that he expects that the additional contribution after 2015 will increase very quickly. And the Barmer GEK had also recently announced that it assumes that the health insurance contributions in Germany will rise significantly in the coming years. (Ad)