Controversy over high surpluses of the health insurance companies

Dispute over dizzying surpluses of the statutory health insurance

07.03.2012

As announced on Wednesday, the statutory sick have a much larger surplus than previously expected. 19.5 billion euros have accumulated the coffers as a financial reserve. Of this, the salaries of the health insurance chiefs in the amount of 23.6 million euros have already been deducted. Claims for distributions of premiums for the insured become louder and louder.

Health insurance surplus is higher than expected
As the provisional results for 2011 published by the Federal Ministry of Health on Wednesday show, the statutory health insurance has accumulated a surplus of 19.5 billion euros. Of this amount, around four billion euros are accounted for by the coffers alone. This is a much higher surplus than was expected in December.
„Health insurances are not savings banks, therefore, the funds that can, excess premiums to the insured distribute“, explains Renate Künast (Greens). The health fund should not become the election campaign fund of the FDP, „therefore a one-time reduction of the tax subsidy is conceivable“, reports the group leader of the Greens.

The reserves are distributed among the individual health insurance funds as well as the health fund, in which the contributions and the tax billions are received centrally. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the financial cushion of the statutory health insurance companies is around ten billion euros at the end of 2011. The fund's liquidity reserve amounts to around 9.5 billion euros.

As a result, the funds had a much larger reserve than needed to hedge against risks, the ministry said. „These health insurance funds are required to intensively examine whether existing premium potentials are to be passed on to their members“, says the Department of Health Minister Daniel Bahr (FDP). The available part is also a useful cushion in the context of economic risks. This is 4.4 billion euros in the health fund, which are not bound as a mandatory reserve.

Cash registers reject claim for premium distribution
The statutory health insurances rejected the demand for a premium distribution as expected. Already next year, the health fund could slipping back into the red, warned the treasurers and their associations. The largest surplus of a single fund scored in 2011, the Techniker health insurance (TK) with 962 million euros. TK boss Norbert Klusen told the „Frankfurter Allgemeine“, that due to the unpredictability of the health fund, he sees no scope for premium distributions. The insured would still benefit, as the TK has expanded its range of services.

Cash bosses have earned in 2011 together 23,6 million euros
Citing the annual compulsory publications of health insurance reported „Bild-Zeitung“, that the bosses of all public health insurance companies have earned a total of 20.9 million euros last year. Added to this were bonus payments amounting to 2.7 million euros. The most generous salary, according to the head of the TK Norbert Klusen with 283 446 euros. The former vice-chairman of the AOK-Plus for Saxony and Thuringia, Frank Storsberg even earned more than 330,000 euros. He retired from the AOK and went to the TK in October. (Ag)

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Picture: Andrea Kusajda