Health insurance premiums stimulate change

Forsa survey: 14 percent of the cash register members would change the health insurance company if there was a premium

26/09/2012

Only very few change their statutory health insurance, because firstly, no health insurance makes an additional contribution and secondly, the health services offered hardly differ except for a few nuances. But because some health insurance companies have announced that the insured in the form of a premium to participate in the billions of shots, consider millions of insured in Germany to change their cash, as a recent survey of opinion and research institute „Forsa“ revealed.

Apparently, the prospect of a premium payment is a sustainable reason to change the health insurance. According to a representative survey of the Forsa Institute on behalf of the magazine „star“ For example, 14 percent of all respondents would change their current statutory health insurance if the new health insurance fund makes a premium payment.

Seven million potential changers
Currently, about 54 million German citizens are insured with a statutory health insurance. With a share of 14 percent, the equivalent of about seven million cash patients would change the prospect of a premium, the health insurance.

Last week, the second largest health insurance fund in Germany, the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) announced that it would pay out a premium to the insured in early 2012. Although no concrete sum has been mentioned, industry experts, however, assume that „more than 100 euros to be distributed to the members“.

New members can also take part in this offer if they switch to TC this year. At present, TK has around six million people covered by health insurance. „With this the cash register wants to recruit new members“, so Tobias Schmidt, health insurance expert from Hannover. Schmidt assumes that in the coming weeks even more health insurance companies will make similar offers.

In addition, the Hanseatic Health Insurance Fund (HEK) and a number of smaller company health insurance companies have announced that they will contribute their profits to the surpluses generated. Here, the distributions are to unconfirmed information between 50 and 100 euros. All in all, 19 of the 145 funds want special payments. By contrast, the majority of cashiers are in favor of expanding health services. (Sb)

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