Additional contributions A reason to change

Additional contributions of the health insurance - a reason to change.

(03.08.2010) Since the end of 2009, some statutory health insurance companies have been collecting additional contributions of up to € 8.00 to cover their capital requirements. About 1/5 of the 51.5 million contributors are affected by these additional contributions, but the picture is complex. While 16 of the just over 160 statutory health insurance companies so far require an additional contribution, other health insurance funds even offer premiums of up to approx. 60, - € per calendar year to acquire additional customers.

However, the increased costs associated with the additional contributions for the insured remain not without effect. In the first half of 2010, almost 500,000 statutory insured persons changed their health insurance because of the additional contributions. In addition, some insurance companies such. For example, the KKH alliance even for the first time even terminations of pensioners and Hartz IV recipients.

A change „is from the point of view of the insured in view of the higher costs quite understandable, especially since the benefits must not be worse after a change, "said the president of the GVI Siegfried Karle Especially since, according to the governing parties of the FDP, CDU and CSU, the regular contributions to the health insurance According to the FDP General Secretary Christian Lindner, in addition to the increase in regular contributions, a further increase in additional contributions is to be reckoned with.

Since then, all 16 health insurances that collect additional contributions have suffered massive declines in the number of insured persons, with the German Employees Health Insurance (DAK), KKH Allianz and BKK Gesundheit being particularly affected. Thus, DAK alone has around 240,000 members in the first half of 2010 The KKH alliance lost about 116,000 and the BKK health lost about 300,000 (20%) of its total members. The representatives of the DAK and the KKH alliance are aware that these losses were significantly triggered by the additional contributions and so both funds hope to get along again in the next few years without a corresponding premium.

However, this is only one side of the coin, because insurance companies that do not require additional contributions and in some cases still lure them with premiums were largely able to record substantial growth. For example, market leader Barmer GEK has For example, an increase of 69,000 insured persons and the Techniker Krankenkasse achieved an increase of 238,000 insured persons. The various AOKs have also gained nearly 511,000 insured since January. Being well positioned, these funds will probably not require any additional contributions in the future and thus have a considerable competitive advantage over the other statutory health insurance funds.

The competition among the health insurance companies, however, will further aggravate and lead to a significant reduction in the number of statutory health insurance, so that of the approximately 160 health insurance companies in the end only about 100 left over, according to the estimate of the Essen health economist Jürgen Wasem. Whether this will improve the benefits for the insured is questionable. All that is certain is that after the summer, the Ministry of Health will present another bill, which will allow the insurances to expand the additional contributions limited to a maximum of one percent of their income indefinitely. The fact that the costs of the health system should be paid significantly over the insured, is strongly criticized by the Kassen-Spitzenverband. Savings such. For example, in the opinion of the association's chairman, Doris Pfeffer, a clearer solution for doctors and hospitals would have been a much more sensible solution to tackling the rising costs of health care. (Sb)

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