Many pensioners now have to pay more for their health insurance

Many retirees pay from today more contributions for their health insurance
For many retirees increases their contribution to the health insurance with the change of the month. The most recent increases in the additional contributions will only apply to them from 1 March. For some insured a cash change may be worthwhile.

Increase of the additional contribution applies to pensioners with delay
Many retirees in Germany have to pay higher contributions for their health insurance from today. For them, the changes to the additional contribution will only become valid after a transitional period of two months. Around two-thirds of all statutory health insurance funds have increased the additional contributions from January, for retirees is now the 1st March as the deadline. You must pay the full additional contribution and half of the fixed contribution rate of 14.6 percent, the other half pays the pension fund.

Retirees have to reach deeper into the pocket for the cash contributions. Image: Marcus Hofmann - fotolia

For some insured is worth a change
Persons, for example, who receive a monthly pension of € 1,000 and are insured with a health fund that has increased the additional contribution by one percent, will pay a total of € 83. Of this, € 73 will be charged for the fixed contribution rate and € 10 for the additional contribution. Since not all insurers have increased the contributions evenly or not at all, the question comes up: worth a change? On the website "krankenkassen.de" one can inform oneself about the respective contributions of the different health insurance companies.

Criticism of current insurance model
The statutory cash contribution currently stands at 14.6 percent of the monthly gross income, of which employer / pension fund and employee / pensioner each pay half. However, insured persons have to bear the additional additional requirements of the funds on their own because the proportion of employers is frozen. The health insurance companies charge an additional contribution, the amount of which you can determine yourself. Criticism of the current insurance model has been around since it was introduced, partly by health insurances. Even the DAK boss had classified the additional contribution as nonsensical. This leads to a senseless price competition and creeping "withdrawal of employers from financial responsibility". (Ad)