Study Statutory health insurance better than the private health insurance

Private health insurance companies lose to the legal

Insured in the statutory health insurance often feel like second-class patients. Rightly? According to a recent study, the answer is no! Although legally insured persons have to wait longer for their specialist appointments, overall the protection of statutory health insurance is more extensive than for private insurance.

The health insurance study was carried out by the consulting firm PremiumCircle and commissioned by the Greens parliamentary group. In over 100 criteria the benefits of the statutory health insurance (GKV) were compared with those of the private health insurance (PKV). The astounding result: The public health insurance funds were ahead.

Second-class patients? The disadvantaged situation of persons insured under the law could not be confirmed in a recent study. (Image: Stock Photos-MG / fotolia.com)

Inadequate protection of the private

PremiumCircle defined for the study 103 minimum criteria that should cover a health insurance in the opinion of the experts. These criteria included, for example, outpatient and inpatient treatment, medications, cures, rehabilitation services, dental treatment, transport, preventive measures and vaccinations. On average, according to the study, private insurance does not cover 27 percent of these criteria. By contrast, PremiumCircle was able to determine that only three per cent of elementary benefits are not funded by the GKV.

Here are the private front

Especially at the medical appointments a big difference was shown. On average, GKV patients have to wait much longer for their appointments with the specialist than privately insured ones. Inpatient care in hospitals, the private health insurance often more, because, for example, single bed rooms are included in the cash benefit. Furthermore, PKVs scored points in the dental treatment. If it comes to dentures, the private insurance companies usually take more costs.

Large differences in benefits in private insurance

In the investigations the tariffs of 32 PKV were scrutinized. The cost of these insurances was between 480 and 730 euros per month. For some, there was also a deductible of up to 1000 euros. The benefits that you receive for these contributions vary enormously among providers. For example, Barmenia's premium tariff covered 99 of the 103 elementary services. In contrast, in the most expensive tariff of Mecklenburg insurance only 32 of the 103 criteria financed.

These benefits are better with the statutory health insurance

For cures and rehabilitation offers could clearly score the GKV. Almost half of the private insurance rates examined here showed large gaps in financing. For example, many GPP tariffs did not guarantee inpatient rehabilitation after hospitalization. Deficits in private insurance coverage are also found in the area of ​​palliative care, home nursing, psychotherapy and immunization, according to the study.

Statutory health insurance - better than their reputation

"The recurrent claim that statutory health insurance is only second-rate, is clearly refuted by this investigation," said Maria Klein-Schmeink, the health expert of the Greens parliamentary group to the editorial network Germany. (Vb)