As of: March 8, 2024, 6:30 p.m
By: Max Schäfer
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Contributions for pensions, health and nursing care insurance are rising.
They could make up over 50 percent of the salary.
Experts point out alternatives.
Munich – Less and less net of gross: Employees in Germany are likely to have less and less money from their labor income in the future.
Not only should pension contributions increase, but the need for health and nursing care insurance will also increase in the future.
This means that contributions are also likely to increase.
However, experts have suggestions on how social security contributions can be kept within limits.
In order not to allow pension insurance contributions to rise excessively, Reint Gropp from the Institute for Economic Research suggests a “tax-financed basic pension” for everyone.
“If you want to have more pension, you have to save through a national fund,” said the expert in the
Bild newspaper
.
The contributions to this could be paid tax-exempt.
You can also choose how the money is invested.
Gropp cited stocks and bonds as examples.
To prevent higher social contributions: Experts are calling for a higher retirement age
According to experts, raising the retirement age is also a way to keep contributions stable.
“Retirement at 70” has been discussed for a long time.
“The retirement age must be adjusted at regular intervals to the increased life expectancy,” demanded Klaus Morgenstern from the German Institute for Retirement Provision in
Bild
.
A possible period is five years.
Two thirds of the increased life expectancy should then be counted towards retirement age.
However, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil rejects the increase in the retirement age.
Instead, he takes a look at the neighboring country to the south: Following Austria's example, Heil also wants civil servants and the self-employed to pay into their pensions.
In doing so, he wants to keep the contributions within limits and stabilize the pension level.
When announcing the pension package, the minister announced increasing contributions from the previous 18.6 percent to 22.3 percent in 2035.
A higher retirement age can also reduce the burden on health insurance companies, say experts
However, a higher retirement age and the resulting longer working life could ease the burden on health insurance companies.
“With the transition to retirement, the contribution to health insurance also falls,” argues Jochen Pimpertz from the German Economic Institute.
However, there are more and more older people to be cared for.
Therefore, according to a study by WHU Düsseldorf, health insurance contributions could increase from the current average of 16.3 percent to 18.8 percent by 2035.
Günter Neubauer from the Institute for Health Economics has three suggestions as alternatives to higher social security contributions.
He suggested “citizens’ insurance”
to
Bild .
The option of private health insurance should no longer exist.
In addition, Neubauer doesn't just want to include income from wages or salaries, but all income, for example rental income.
In order to relieve the burden on the welfare state: experts cite deductibles as an alternative to higher contributions
According to the expert from the Institute for Health Economics, the third alternative to increasing health insurance contributions is patient participation in services.
However, these would only have a short-term effect, replied Jürgen Wasem, Professor of Medical Management at the University of Düsseldorf.
“In the medium and long term, only structural reforms will help,” he told
Bild
.
The reforms are on the way.
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An expert suggests cuts in care as a way to prevent rising social security contributions.
(Archive photo) © Tom Weller/dpa
Wasem himself looks at long-term care insurance, which also puts health insurance companies under pressure.
The umbrella association of statutory health insurance companies warns that from 2025 it will hardly be possible to finance this with the current contributions.
The care contributions were not increased until 2023.
Professor suggests cutting benefits for long-term care insurance - but warns of social consequences
The Düsseldorf professor therefore suggests benefit cuts.
However, Wasem admits to
Bild
: “For some nursing home residents, the care insurance benefit ensures that their inheritance is protected.
But for another part, every reduction in benefits means that people become dependent on social assistance.”
If there are no effective changes, social security contributions could rise by almost ten percentage points by 2050.
Contributions to the welfare state could then be more than 50 percent.
This is the result of a study commissioned by young entrepreneurs and family businesses.
(ms)