Additional contribution of health insurance comes

Supplementary contribution to health insurance 2015: hardly any relief for the insured

17/12/2014

In 2015, the additional contribution for the statutory health insurance comes. The competition for the contribution amount of the individual health insurance funds brings little financial relief for the insured, and that, although the coffers have large reserves.

Accordingly, the Techniker health insurance (TK), with 9.2 million insured the largest SHI in Germany, their contribution rate is likely to reduce only by 0.1 percent to 15.4 percent. The situation is similar for the biggest guild fund of the IKK classic, where the contribution rate is probably reduced by only one percent to 15.4. That's about four euros a month on average. The insured persons of BKK Mobil Oil benefit from the new regulations in the statutory health insurance, because their contribution rate decreases from 01.01.2015 from the current 15.5% to 15.4%. This contribution rate should remain stable until 2017. „Instead of setting short-term price incentives, we want to continue offering our insureds an optimal price-performance offer with a solid and sustainable contribution policy - and that on a permanent basis“, explains Mario Heise, CEO of BKK Mobil Oil. Whether this happens, however, can be foreseen at the end of 2015 at the earliest.

Strong growth in recent years prevents price wars
As large funds, such as the TK have grown in recent years, they clearly see no reason to deliver on the market an offensive price competition with the competition. Correspondingly, the contributions are only marginally decreasing or even stagnating at the old level. Growth should instead be achieved through mergers. So sends the DAK to a „marriage“ to engage with Shell BKK / LIFE to strengthen its footprint in health management.

Other funds, however, have not yet published their new contributions. These include in addition to the Barmer GEK and several general local health insurance (AOK's). With significant contribution reductions, however, is not expected, fight prices should rather be the exception. Thus, it will probably be shown that the financial reform of the GKV, much praised by Minister of Health Gröhe, will not bring about the hoped-for relief of the economy and the insured.

Only two health insurance companies require additional contributions below 0.9 percent: AOK Sachsen-Anhalt and AOK Plus. Despite the high rates of morbidity among the insured, they apparently have no problems getting along with the benefits from the health fund.

Criticism of distribution criteria
Significant criticism, meanwhile, was practiced by many corporate health insurance companies at the distribution mechanism in general and at morbidity-oriented risk structure compensation (MORBI RSA) in particular. For example, the Bavarian Association of Occupational Health Insurance Funds had recently criticized that morbidity was "unduly overrated" in the RSA and the different health care costs „This can be costly for individual funds, and if the costs can not be covered by allocations and additional contributions, they will be penalized, in which case many patients are likely to change cash registers.

This development was initiated by the Grand Coalition this summer with the GKV-Finanzstruktur- und Qualitätsweiterentwicklungsgesetz (FQWG). Thereafter, the health insurance companies from 2015, a fixed contribution rate of 14.6 percent, which corresponds to a loss of 0.9 percent over the previous year. The resulting gap of about 11 billion euros, the health insurance funds then on individual cash contributions additional contributions from their insured persons. The President of the Federal Insurance Office (BVA), Dr. med. Maximilian Gaßner expects „For 2015, on average, a contribution rate burden that is slightly below the current 15.5 percent.“ "Probably some health insurance companies will have to take more than 0.9 percent," said Gaßner further in the press release de BVA.

Dr. However, Gaßner again warned against making a health insurance change solely dependent on the amount of the additional contribution rates: „One must not forget with the current numbers that many additional contribution rates of the health insurance funds are subsidized over the partly well-filled reserves. This means that as a result of the dynamics of spending, the picture will change and, above all, shift in the next few years.“

Although legally permissible, but missed competitively, Dr. Ing. Gaßner the determination of an additional contribution rate in the second place after the comma: „This promotes pure price competition as at the gas station. The lawmakers wanted to prevent these with the introduction of the percentage additional contribution.“

Businesses see defusing the competition of the health insurance companies
The price competition is also central criticism of the economic ways. In her opinion, flat-rate contributions would have increased competition between health insurance funds more because insured persons would have received clearer signals. Against the background of the fact that the insured will hear the price war directly from January 2015 are rather questionable. However, it is also questionable how price competition and quality competition should be reconciled. (Jp)

Image: Benjamin Klack