More pensioners and part-time workers cause contributions to rise

This could increase your contribution

Study warns of additional burdens for those with health insurance

The financial situation of the statutory health insurance companies remains tense. A study shows which developments could further increase contributions in the future.

Shortly before new reform proposals for statutory health insurance, a study paints a difficult picture of the future financial situation. According to the analysis by the consulting institute IGES on behalf of the Association of Replacement Funds (vdek), demographic change and increasing part-time work could cause contribution rates to rise further in the coming years.

Accordingly, the development of the age structure alone could lead to the contribution rates for statutory health insurance increasing in the long term. The main reason for this is the growing number of pensioners.

According to calculations by the study authors, the number of legally insured pensioners could rise to more than 20 million by 2035. This would mean additional burdens of around 0.2 contribution rate points for health insurance companies. This corresponds to around four billion euros in additional costs.

This would also weaken the revenue base of the statutory health insurance companies. The study assumes that this could result in additional burdens of around 0.2 contribution rate points. Taken together, both developments could lead to an increase in the average contribution rate by around 0.4 percentage points.

However, the analysis also shows possible countermeasures that could improve the income situation of statutory health insurance companies.

These include, among others: