66 statutory health insurance companies increased additional contributions on January 1, 2023
According to the law, the health insurance companies should use around 2.5 billion euros of their financial reserves of 10.4 billion euros at the end of 2022 to reduce contributions
Credit: pa/photo booth/K. Smith
In Germany, health insurance companies can determine the amount of their additional contributions themselves. According to the Ministry of Health, most of the statutory health insurance companies increased them at the beginning of this year. Together, the coffers booked a surplus of around 451 million euros for 2022.
Dhe members of most statutory health insurance companies in Germany had to shoulder higher contributions at the turn of the year. As of January 1, 2023, 66 health insurance companies increased their contribution rates, as the Federal Ministry of Health announced on Friday when it announced the cash finances for the past year in Berlin. The additional contribution rate remained unchanged for 25 funds, four lowered it. Each insurance company can set the additional contribution rate itself.
The officially expected average additional contribution rate was raised from 1.3 to 1.6 percent in 2023. The additional contributions are on top of the general contribution rate of 14.6 percent of income, which employer and employee share. In autumn, the traffic light coalition decided on a financial package with various measures intended to compensate for a minus of 17 billion euros expected for 2023.
For 2022, the 96 health insurance companies have a surplus of around 451 million euros – with income of 289.3 and expenditure of 288.9 billion euros, as the ministry announced. From their financial reserves of 10.4 billion euros at the end of the year, according to the law, the funds should use around 2.5 billion euros to reduce contributions. In addition, there are around 4.7 billion euros from the twelve billion euros reserve of the health fund, the money collection and distribution point of health insurance.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said according to a statement, the “moderate surplus” of the coffers shows that the finances have been precisely stabilized. He referred to an additional federal subsidy of 14 billion euros in 2022. Contributors were also protected from high increases at the turn of the year.
The expenditure of the coffers rose by 4.4 percent, as the ministry announced. There was also an increase in insured persons of 0.5 percentage points. Expenditure on services such as hospital and medical treatment and medicines rose by 4.3 percent, the administrative costs of the health insurance funds by 7.2 percent, mainly due to high old-age provisions in some cases.
Expenses for corona tests and vaccinations as well as compensation payments for hospitals have been reimbursed by the federal government – a total of around 21.4 billion euros have been made available from the liquidity reserve of the health fund and refinanced by the federal government.