New AOK Northeast planned

Two AOK health insurance companies join forces: The AOK Berlin-Brandenburg and the AOK Mecklenburg-Vorpommern become a total health insurance company AOK Nordost.

(26.08.2010) Two AOK health insurances merge: From the AOK Berlin Brandenburg and the AOK Mecklenburg-Vorpommern becomes a total health insurance called „AOK Northeast“. The merger is scheduled for January 1, 2011, according to the health insurances, the board of directors of both health insurance companies decided on Wednesday in separate sessions. As a result of the merger, insured persons and others avoided the collection of an additional contribution for the coming year, as it was said. So said the chairman of the AOK Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Friedrich Wilhelm Bluschke, "On the insured is no additional contribution after the merger."

If both health insurances come together, around 1.8 million insured persons belong to the "AOK Nordost". Only at the beginning of the year did the "AOK Berlin" and the "AOK Brandenburg" merge to form the "AOK Berlin-Brandenburg". As a result of this merger, around 1.3 million people were already covered by health insurance in the merged fund. The AOK Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has about half a million (480,000) members. If they come together, then the eleven largest statutory health insurance companies in Germany will join the 1.8 million insured.

Other general local health insurance funds (AOK) plan mergers. Thus, the AOK Thuringia / Saxony want to merge with Hesse and the AOK Schleswig-Holstein with Westphalia. So there will be only a few in perspective, but large AOK health insurance companies.

In total there are 160 health insurance companies in Germany. The number will continue to be minimized by the end of the year. More and more health insurance companies are planning mergers. The reason: Only with a certain size can certain positions be better represented to pharmaceutical companies and medical associations. Large health insurance funds can usually respond better to financial bottlenecks than small ones. Also, additional contributions can be avoided at a certain size. Experts expect that in one to two years, there will be only 50 to 80 health insurance companies in Germany.

The current wave of mergers among health insurers is viewed with growing concern by experts and already warns of a possible collapse of the health care system. Up to now, it has always been possible for health insurance companies, if there is insufficient funding, to register a possible bankruptcy at the Federal Insurance Office, i. the residual risk lay with the insurance companies themselves. With the current wave of mergers, however, some funds, such as B. the Bamer GEK reaches a size that makes it impossible to handle such a health insurance through a proper bankruptcy procedure, as their members could not be accommodated easily at other coffers. Experts such as Rolf Stuppardt of the Federal Association of the guilds even assume that the current mergers in general „to do little with health economic goals“ but mainly serve to reach a system relevant size, so that the state has to intervene in case of bankruptcy. So is the AOK planning a big overall AOK in the near future? (Sb)

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Picture: Ulli Przyklenk