Health insurance Here are the new additional contributions 2015

Health insurance companies publish additional contributions

15/12/2014

From January 2015, when the statutory health insurance contribution will be reduced, the health insurances will have the opportunity to levy an additional contribution. After some insurers have already announced in what amount they will design this, now also follow two of the larger health insurance companies in Germany. A cash change can sometimes save a lot of money.

Cash registers announce additional contributions for the coming year
From January 1, 2015, the statutory health insurance contribution in Germany will fall from the current level of 15.5 percent to 14.6 percent. However, this does not mean that insured persons will generally have to pay less from next year. Because of the GKV financial reform, the statutory health insurance funds have the option of making an additional contribution to cover their financial needs. Since only a few of the 131 health insurance companies have informed their members about the amount of their future additional contribution, two of the country's largest health insurances have now announced their additional contributions for 2015.

Insured persons at TK will pay less in the future
A few days ago, two of the larger funds officially announced their additional contributions for 2015. This is set by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) to 0.8 percentage points and thus remains just below the average of 0.9 points. Consequently, the members of the TK will pay 15.4 percent in the coming year instead of the previous 15.5 percent. In total, the TK has 6.7 million paying members and 9.2 million insured. DAK-Gesundheit has announced that it will leave the bid at the average value of 0.9 percentage points. Thus, the total contribution remains at 15.5 percent.

Contributions will remain largely stable
As expected, contributions to statutory health insurance (SHI) will remain largely stable in the coming year. However, an increase of contributions is expected for the following years by experts. If contributors are not satisfied with the value of their cash, they can switch. In principle, there is a special right of termination for insured persons if the health insurance company levies an additional contribution for the first time or increases it.

Save money by changing cash
For some insured persons, the current contribution adjustments mean that it is possible to save several hundred euros a year. A change may be worthwhile especially for workers with a high gross income. Despite possible savings, there are also reasons not to change the cash register hastily. Among other things, the Federal Insurance Office advises that the choice of health insurance should pay attention not only to the differences in the additional contribution, but also to factors such as advice, service, special services or the presence of a local office. (Ad)

Image: Benjamin Klack