These funds are likely to become more expensive in 2025

Due to rising expenses and reforms, new financial holes are looming in health insurance funds for next year. Some funds are particularly badly affected.

The statutory health insurance funds spent 300 billion euros per year on services for around 75 million insured people. However, revenues were significantly lower: in the first quarter of 2024 alone, the deficit was around 776 million euros. And the trend is rising.

Not only are the costs for medication, treatment, care and energy rising. The government also wants to improve the hospitals and care. This is intended to generate savings, but it will cost money. And according to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), this money will also come from the insured:

“Now is the phase in which we have to invest money, including that of the contributors,” he told the magazine “Stern.” This is the only way to achieve structural reforms that “curb costs in the long term and improve the system.” He does not want to “cut the system to pieces” now, but rather “we need these investments.”

Health insurance companies can generate more revenue by increasing the so-called additional contribution. In 2024, this will be an average of 1.7 percent. This is on top of the general contribution of 14.6 percent. Employers and insured persons each pay half of these contributions.

The minister has not yet said how much the additional contribution could increase. Experts have commented on this. For example, health economist Prof. Günter Neubauer told the “Bild” newspaper that he believes increases of up to one percentage point are possible at the turn of the year. There could also be mergers between health insurance companies.

In particular, those health insurance companies that currently have a weak overall financial situation will have to increase the additional contribution. For “Focus Money”, the German Financial Service Institute (DFSI) in Cologne therefore looked at the liquidity, net assets, administrative costs and the development of paying members of 46 health insurance companies and created a ranking.

According to the report, a total of 14 health insurance companies received an “excellent” and “very good” overall rating, including TK, the health insurance company with the most members in Germany, and one of the cheapest health insurance companies to date, hkk. In contrast, IKK Classic, KKH, mkk, Mobil Krankenkasse and Pronova BKK, among others, received a “satisfactory” rating. These health insurance companies are under particular pressure due to high expenses and low reserves – the additional contribution could therefore increase in 2025.

• More than doubled: KKH increases additional contribution and becomes most expensive health insurance fund
• Additional contribution in the statutory health insurance: These funds have increased their contributions in 2024

Especially when the additional contributions increase in 2025, you should compare: A higher additional contribution may pay off if you use additional services that are specific to your health insurance company – such as covering the costs of special treatments, vaccinations, dental services or family-related services. If this is not the case, you should consider switching to a cheaper health insurance company. This is easy to do if your current health insurance company increases the contribution.

• Read also: How to change health insurance for pensioners
• Statutory health insurance: What you should consider when changing

For example, if you earn 45,000 euros a year and are employed, you pay a national average of around 300 euros a month to your health insurance fund. Your employer pays the same amount – including the additional contribution. If the latter increases by one percentage point, your monthly contribution rises to around 325 euros. So you pay around 300 euros more per year. The difference is greater the more you earn. In 2024, everyone who earns 69,300 euros or more per year will pay the maximum contribution.

The umbrella association of health insurance companies criticized Lauterbach’s comments. “Instead of a plan of action on how the care of the approximately 75 million people with statutory insurance can finally be put back on a solid financial footing, he seems to be calmly announcing ever-increasing additional contributions,” said association head Doris Pfeiffer.

The German Social Association complained: “Despite all the need for reform in the health care system, the costs must not be shifted unilaterally onto the shoulders of the contributors.” Tax revenue must also be used to finance the system – in a fair distribution of the burden for all.

The average additional contribution for next year will be officially determined as usual at the beginning of November. This is a guideline value, and the health insurance funds can deviate from it depending on their financial situation. The umbrella organization warned that an increase of at least 0.6 points would be necessary at the beginning of 2025. The reason: the “expenditure-driving” legislation of the past ten years, not even including additional costs for hospital reform. In the first three months of 2024, the health insurance funds posted a loss of 776 million euros.

The nursing care insurance is expecting to be in the red in 2024 and 2025. Next year, this would mathematically require a contribution increase of 0.2 points, according to the umbrella association of statutory health insurance funds, which also represents the nursing care funds. “Instead of putting the brakes on spending so that social contributions do not get further out of control, the minister wants to continue to spend the money of the contributors with both hands,” criticized the head of the Federal Association of General Local Health Insurance Funds (AOK), Carola Reimann. “This makes Karl Lauterbach the most expensive Federal Health Minister of all time.”