Consumer advocates warn
The health insurance contribution increases, but one point makes the change more difficult
12/30/2025 – 11:29 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
At the turn of the year, several health insurance companies are increasing their tariffs. A change may therefore be worthwhile. But so far there is no independent comparison portal.
It was a development with an announcement: statutory health insurance companies had repeatedly warned in the past few months that they would not be able to avoid increasing the additional contribution in the new year. They cited the lack of political reforms as the reason. Although the federal government recently launched a two billion euro package to support health insurance companies, the fund managers believe that this is not enough. Dozens of statutory health insurance companies have now announced that they will increase the additional contribution from January 2026.
From the point of view of the consumer advice centers, support is needed from the public: they are calling for a neutral comparison portal for the services and benefits of statutory health insurance companies. The head of the federal association, Ramona Pop, told the German Press Agency that anyone who is now thinking about changing health insurance in 2026 because of an increasing additional contribution should not just pay attention to the costs. “But so far there has been a lack of an independent, publicly accessible comparison portal that not only makes the contribution but also the service quality and scope of services transparent.”
Politicians must ensure that insured people can meaningfully compare the more than 90 health insurance funds. “Without reliable information on quality and service, choosing the right health insurance company remains a guessing game for many people – with potentially expensive consequences,” said Pop. The association suggests setting up a comparison platform on the national health portal www.gesund.bund.de. The traffic light coalition had presented legal plans for a comparison portal for specific health insurance benefits, but then did not implement them.
