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Blood pressure measurements at the doctor's: statutory health insurance is threatened with a deficit
Photo: Adam Berry/ Getty Images
Millions of people with statutory health insurance will probably have to pay higher social security contributions from 2023.
Because the average additional contribution in health insurance is expected to increase by 0.3 percentage points in 2023.
Now the Greens in the Bundestag have brought an increase in the contribution assessment ceiling into play.
"We have to create more solidarity in the system," said Green health expert Janosch Dahmen of the dpa news agency.
"Strong shoulders should take on more responsibility for the community in times of crisis," explained Dahmen.
»Increasing the contribution assessment ceiling should no longer be a taboo.«
In 2022, the contribution assessment limit in statutory health insurance (GKV) will be EUR 58,050 per year (EUR 4837.50 per month).
An employee's income is subject to contributions up to the contribution assessment limit; everything above this is non-contributory.
In the coalition agreement, there is no increase in the contribution assessment limit.
"But at the time, we couldn't foresee the enormous price controls," Dahmen explained his suggestion.
"The statutory health insurance needs higher income, at the same time many contributors need relief," he said.
»We cannot expect the majority of people to have higher health insurance contributions in the near future.«
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) justified the increase in the additional contribution with an impending deficit of around 17 billion euros in the coming year for statutory health insurance with its 57 million insured.
A higher additional contribution should bring in between 4.8 and 5 billion euros.
The average additional contribution is currently 1.3 percent.
The health insurers determine the specific amount themselves.
Together with the general contribution rate of currently 14.6 percent, 16.2 percent of the gross salary would have to be paid for health insurance.
The contribution to the GKV has never been so high.
"The state must improve the income side of the statutory health insurance so that in the end the contributors do not plug the holes," said Green politician Dahmen.
He therefore also demanded that the state grants for Hartz 4 recipients and refugees from Ukraine be increased.
Warning of "contribution tsunami"
Business representatives fear, however, that without reforms there is a risk of further increases in the coming years.
"Basically, we need expenditure-reducing structural reforms in all branches of social insurance," said Markus Jerger, chairman of the Federal Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (BVMW).
"Germany can no longer afford a further increase in health insurance contributions." It already has the largest duty and tax burden in Europe.
The CEO of the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, Andreas Storm, criticized Lauterbach's plans in the "Bild": "The minister has addressed a structural underfunding of the GKV himself, but wants to solve half of the deficit with one-off measures." This threatens the insured 2024 the next increase.
The CSU health expert Stephan Pilsinger also warned in the "Augsburger Allgemeine" against further increases: "The sometimes confused individual measures will not lead to the foreseeable contribution tsunami being stopped," he said.
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, proposed the introduction of a reduced rate of VAT on pharmaceuticals in order to significantly relieve the burden on health insurers.
However, Lauterbach's draft does not provide for this.
mmq/dpa
