Insured persons will have to pay so much more additional contribution soon

Court of Auditors calculates

Additional contribution of 4 percent: So much more you pay

In the past few months, many contributors have had to dig deeper into their pockets for the health insurance. An end to the cost spiral is not in sight.

The health insurers in Germany are noticeably increasing additional contributions. After a record growth in the expenditure last year, the income from the health insurance companies would continue to remain under the expenditure in the future, the Federal Audit Office predicts in a new report on the Bundestag’s budget committee. The annual billion -off deficit would result in “an increase in the average additional contribution rate of 0.3 contribution rate points per year”.

The Court of Auditors points out that the average additional contribution rate has increased by 0.9 percent by 1.6 contributions since 2015. “The financial situation of the SHI is increasingly putting up contributors as well as employers.” The overall social security contribution – i.e. the contributions of the other social security – rose by almost one and a half percentage points to 42.3 percent in 2025.

With health insurance alone, the gap between income and expenses increases by six to eight billion euros annually. Currently, expenses compared to the previous year with 8.2 percent “has increased more than in any other year of the past three decades”.

At the beginning of 2025, the additional contributions, which the health insurers set for their insured persons, rose to an average of 2.9 percent. That was more than the expected increase by 0.8 points to an official orientation value of 2.5 percent. The overall contribution also includes the general set of 14.6 percent.

If the development is progressing as the Federal Audit Office forecast, this would mean the following additional burden for the insured:

The calculations only include the additional contribution, which must be expected together with the general contribution rate of 14.6 percent. An increase in the average additional contribution to 4.05 percent would therefore mean that they would have to spend a total of 18.65 percent of the gross salary for health insurance. Half of the employees pay this amount, half of the employers. Pensioners share the contribution with the German pension insurance.

Criticism immediately came from Paula Piechotta, the Greens’ household and health politician. She said: “The Court of Auditors tears the plan of Warken in the air to wait longer with the reforms of health and long-term care insurance and instead decide to decide on points that even increase the financial problems.” In view of the rushing deficits, a contribution rate of up to 18.65 percent can be expected in the SHI alone. “With a monthly salary of 4,000 euros, these are almost 750 euros more per year compared to health insurance.”