Additional contribution to the Barmer health insurance?

The largest German health insurance company Barmer GEK is likely to demand an additional contribution from its insured by 2011 at the latest. Further contribution increases of the legal health insurance could follow.

Ask for additional contribution from their insured. Around 8.5 million members would be affected by the additional contribution. In the process, Barmer GEK benefited from the willingness of many insured to change their plans, as Barmer has gained around 150,000 new insured persons since the beginning of the year. Also Barmer GEK board member Birgit Fischer suspects to the "Südwestfunk" that the membership increase "to a large extent" is due to the fact that the Barmer does not currently collect additional contributions. Of course this is particularly annoying for the newly added members, even if the Barmer also requires additional contributions.

Many insured now ask, when the additional contribution is exactly introduced and whether further contributions increase following? Fischer told Südwestfunk: "This year it depends on whether further cost-cutting measures will be effective, for example in the pharmaceutical sector". At the moment, the situation has to be reassessed from month to month. There is a good chance that it will not stay that way. Already at the beginning of the year several funds demanded premium increases. In view of the high deficit of the statutory health insurance companies of approx. 15 billion euro in the year 2011 Fischer demanded an additional increase of the contribution rate of all health insurances. Alternatively, otherwise only a higher tax subsidy would remain. "You can not just solve the problems through the additional contributions and thus unilaterally charge the insured," said Barmer boss Fischer. (Sb)

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Image: Andreas Morlok /Pixelio.de.