In view of the billions in deficits and the threat of premium increases in health and long-term care insurance, associations are calling on Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to regulate the financing as quickly as possible.

The social association VdK reminds itself about long-term care insurance.

"It is not possible that we can afford two parallel insurance systems, statutory and private long-term care insurance," said VdK President Verena Bentele of the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung".

It could also not be "that the long-term care insurance pays benefits that are originally to be financed from taxes, such as pension payments for caring relatives".

Deficit in long-term care insurance

The VdK president reacted to the warning from the umbrella association of statutory health insurances) against a premium increase in the first half of 2022. "If nothing happens, a premium increase of 0.3 percentage points will be necessary in the first half of the year to secure funding ", The deputy chairman of the board of directors of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, Gernot Kiefer, told the" Rheinische Post ". The total expenditure for 2021 was about two billion euros higher than the income.

Bentele called for further improvements in care - especially for the caregiving relatives and the people cared for at home.

"If home care is not promoted and protected now, it can become much more expensive for long-term care insurance.

Here the priorities were set completely wrong in the past years of government, ”said Bentele of the“ NOZ ”.

Health insurance companies complain of "massive financial problem"

In health insurance, the statutory health insurances are waiting for deficits in the double-digit billions.

Federal Health Minister Lauterbach should therefore not put off the financial reforms agreed in the coalition agreement in the health sector, said the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, Doris Pfeiffer, of the editorial network Germany.

The statutory health insurance has "a massive financial problem", especially due to the expensive reforms of recent years.

Its rectification does not tolerate "delay".

Although fighting the corona pandemic is currently a priority for Lauterbach, said Pfeiffer.

That is why the health reforms agreed by the traffic light parties should "not remain undone".

KV contribution could increase

Currently, the financial position of the funds is only stable because the federal government has doubled its tax subsidy for 2022 by 14 billion to almost 30 billion euros.

The financing for 2023 is still open.

"If nothing is done, the contributions will have to rise by an average of almost one percentage point in early 2023," warned Pfeiffer.

"I can't imagine anyone in politics wanting that."

Specifically, she demanded that the federal government pay the health insurers fully cost-covering contributions for Hartz IV recipients from 2023.

It is "highly problematic" that the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP does not speak of a complete equalization, but only of higher contributions.

"It is simply not the job of those paying contributions to the statutory health insurance to finance the state's tasks," criticized Pfeiffer.