Rising Health Insurance Contributions Expected in Berlin Around 2024-2025
Statutory health insured individuals in Berlin may face increasing contributions around the turn of the year 2024/2025 due to the poor financial situation of health insurance companies. Doris Pfeiffer, the head of the GKV umbrella organization, has stated that health insurances will require more money in 2025 to cover their running costs, expecting an additional financial need of 0.5 to 0.6 percentage points, amounting to about 9.5 billion euros according to a study by the research institute Iges. Heinz Rothgang, a health economist at the University of Bremen, believes that contributions could increase as early as the end of 2024. The next estimate by the Federal Ministry of Health, the GKV umbrella organization, and the Federal Office for Social Security is due in October to provide clarity on the timing and extent of the contribution increase.
Rothgang highlights that an aging society and advances in medicine driving up costs, along with the proportion of socially insured employees not subject to contributions in the GKV, lead to increasing costs. The increasing reliance of contribution amounts solely on income and not on capital income such as rental income, further exacerbates the rising costs. Current topics like hospital reform, expected to cost five billion euros annually from 2027 onwards, also impact the potential for contribution hikes.
Andrew Ullmann, the health policy spokesman for the FDP, views the reforms as opportunities rather than risks, emphasizing the need for efficiency gains to prevent contributions from escalating. Urgent actions are required to implement hospital structure reforms, improve emergency care services, and promote digitization to curb rising costs.
The financial situation of health insurances has been deteriorating over the years, with the GKV reporting a deficit of about 5.6 billion euros for 2023, leading to significant deficits. With increasing benefit expenditures and declining reserves, health insurances are finding it challenging to cope with the escalating costs. Supplementary contributions for statutory health insurance are expected to be higher than previously anticipated.
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