Health insurance companies criticize the health care reform

Statutory health insurance funds demand changes to the health care reform approved today in the Federal Cabinet

(22.09.2010) The statutory health insurance companies are not at all satisfied with the healthcare reform decided today. They insist on far-reaching changes. The reforms were approved today by the Federal Cabinet. In the future, employees should bear the cost increases in the healthcare sector alone. The replacement funds see a clear need for change.

The statutory health insurance companies vehemently criticized today's health reform. Thus, the chairman of the Ersatzkassenverbandes, Thomas Ballast, complained that the future contributions would only have to be paid by the employees. The planned reform makes it clear that the exit of the employers in the cost sharing in the health system was heralded. Ballast made it clear that cash patients have to pay the additional contributions open at the top. In the very near future must be reckoned with further higher contributions for the health insurance of the statutory health insurance. These additional costs are then borne solely by the employees. There is no provision for employers to be involved in the costs as a percentage. For the replacement cashier this is the beginning of a head lump sum in the health service .

Healthcare reform is promoting private health insurance
Criticism is also the obvious promotion of private health insurance (PKV). The health care reform is a promotion measure of the PKV for ballast. Thus the change from the GKV into the PKV was simplified considerably. The waiting time has shortened from three to one year. For example, the statutory health insurance companies are missing out on many healthy and high contributors. In addition, private insurers should in future benefit from the drug rebates. Although the expected health insurance deficit of eleven billion euros for the coming year could be covered by the austerity measures and contribution increases, however, according to the Erstkassen chairman the savings with the physicians and hospitals are not sufficiently consistent and ambitious enough.

Employers should be involved in the costs of the health system
It would have been better to involve employers in higher health care costs. In the future, the additional contributions should also be calculated as a percentage of the employees' income. In fact, a social compensation could be created in which the additional contributions are based on income. Thus, although the social compensation is technically feasible, but associated with a considerable administrative burden. The funding for the social compensation is also not sufficiently regulated.

By mid-November, the black-yellow coalition wants to have the reforms approved by the German Bundestag. The implementation of the reform plans should take place at the beginning of 2011. (Sb)

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