BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – More than half of the people in Germany have little or no understanding at all for a possible increase in health insurance contributions in the coming year. This is the result of a representative survey published by the opinion research institute YouGov on Thursday. Accordingly, 34 percent have no understanding at all for a contribution increase, another 24 percent have little understanding.
According to the survey, only 8 percent fully understood higher health insurance contributions, 24 percent had some understanding and 10 percent of those surveyed had no opinion or gave no information.
The higher contributions threaten because of the next expected billion-dollar hole in the statutory health insurance companies. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made that clear this week. The expenditure of the health insurance companies would increase and he ruled out cuts in benefits, said Lauterbach. Therefore, the contribution rate must increase next year. The order of magnitude cannot yet be precisely estimated./cjo/DP/ngu