This year, the statutory health insurance funds expect falling revenues as a result of the consequences of the Corona crisis, for example, unemployment and short-time work. The statutory health insurance system (GKV) estimates the reduced revenues for 2020 at 4.8 billion euros, at least that is what the chairwoman of the Ersatzkassenverband, vdek for short, Ulrike Elsner, recently reported to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). In addition, the GKV expects increasing expenditures due to compensation payments to carers and therapists, but also for the corona test expansion for symptom-free persons. At the same time, intensive care beds have been increased, which has also led to an increase in SHI expenditures. However, postponed operations and therapies also led to savings, as this reduced the amount of expenditure. The increase in expenditure is estimated at 3.3 billion euros. An exact final sum can only be estimated in a few months. The public health insurance companies are also counting on the support of the state so that the planned expansion of the corona test campaign to include symptom-free persons can continue. The Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) as a substitute insurance company has also reported that in 20 years not as many employees have called in sick as in March this year. The proportion of employees on sick leave was 6.84 per cent at that time; 1.34 percentage points above the peak value of 5.30 per cent of past times. Jens Baas, head of TK, believes that many people have called in sick mainly because of colds, in order to protect themselves preventively against the new corona virus. The central association of statutory health insurance companies also reported a peak sickness rate at the end of the first quarter.
Source: Pharmazeutische-Zeitung