DAK Gesundheit has commissioned the IGES Institute to prepare an expert report analyzing health insurance expenditure. According to the report, DAK boss Andreas Storm’s summary generally looks negative for the statutory health insurance (SHI) because the Berlin research institute has no positive news:
By 2025, the statutory health insurance funds are threatened with a deficit of 27.3 billion euros, should there be no „fundamental financial reform“ after the Bundestag elections,“ according to research institute. According to this, DAK Gesundheit is calling above all for a „radical overhaul of the coffers“ so that primarily noninsurance benefits, such as child-rearing and maternity benefits, co-insurance of children and spouses who are exempt from contributions, and also unemployment benefit II and hospital financing are the focus for change. According to the DAK Gesundheit/IGES Institute forecast, benefits outside the health insurance system would accumulate to 41 billion by 2025, or 57 billion according to other projections. The trend shows that the expenditures are greater than the financing base from additional contributions and federal subsidies, which is 14.5 billion euros and has already been increased by seven billion euros this year.
Expenditure would nevertheless be far higher than income so that according to the analysis, the current additional contribution could be 2.87 percent in 2025. The additional contribution, which employees and employers currently share, averages 1.3 percent.
According to the results of the study, a huge deficit in the federal subsidy is also to be expected, which in 2022 would already amount to 30.1 billion euros and would consist of 14.5 billion euros, a subsidy of seven billion euros for 2021 and a further 8.6 billion euros if the legislator continues to manage in a cost-intensive manner. The postponed and uncalled benefits in the Corona pandemic were to be made up for.
The IGES Institute expects that some changes would have to occur in the new legislative period, as the financial reserves of the SHI will be depleted by then at the latest.
Source: www.aerzteblatt.de