Whether the additional contribution in the legal health insurance (GKV) is raised only on the average little or however a doubling threatens, experts do not know yet. However, it is a fact that the average additional contribution for 2021, which is variable, will be adjusted accordingly in any case. This will place a greater burden on those insured in the SHI system, because the income-based additional contribution as an additional financial resource could in any case ease the burden on the insurers. Jens Baas, head of the Techniker Krankenkassen (TK), warns against hard times, because if the financing gap – experts expect a deficit of 16 billion euros as early as 2021 – becomes too large, then drastic measures can be taken, which could include doubling the average additional contribution from today’s 1.3 percent to 2.5 percent. Baas is not alone in his statement to the „Rheinische Post“; Martin Litsch, Chairman of the Board of the AOK Federal Association, also speaks to the newspaper „Augsburger Allgemeine“ of such an increase if the state does not take countermeasures. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn does not see the situation as drastic, but considers increases of 0.2 percentage points in 2021 to be realistic. Baas himself does not know when the increases will take effect, whether at the beginning of next year or only in the middle of it. The concrete amount of the additional contribution will only be determined by the members so that the billion-euro gap in the SHI system can be filled. This means that more expensive years will come for all those insured by the statutory health insurance system.
