Income of around 167.65 billion euros was offset by expenditure of around 166.10 billion euros. In the 1st half of 2016, the health insurance companies reported a surplus of 589 million euros and in the 1st to 3rd quarter of the previous year an expenditure surplus of 359 million euros. Overall, the financial results of the health insurance companies have improved by around 1.95 billion euros compared to the first nine months of last year. Expenditure has flattened out significantly this year, while income has continued to develop positively. There was an increase in expenditure of 3.2 percent per insured person. This is the lowest increase since 2012 and is well below the increase in spending that the estimators forecast for 2016 as a whole in October last year.
The positive development in 2016 also forms a good starting point for the development in 2017 and the following years. Even if the plus of the health insurance companies is unlikely to be as high as in the months of July to September due to special effects in the months of October to December, it is to be expected on the basis of the knowledge gained so far that the surplus of the statutory health insurance funds will continue to rise in 2016 as a whole. A moderate development in expenditure, which is much more favorable than expected in last year’s forecast by the group of estimators, combined with a good, albeit somewhat more moderate development in income, ensures very stable conditions in the current year. This made it possible for the majority of health insurance funds to further build up their reserves.