The expenditure of the statutory health insurance companies in Germany significantly exceeded their income in the first half of the year.
The 97 statutory health insurance funds spent around 287 million euros more than they earned, as the Federal Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday in Berlin.
The financial reserves of the cash registers amounted to 9.6 billion euros at the end of June.
According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the health insurance companies will remain in the black this year.
"The reason for this are larger reserves and an additional tax subsidy of 14 billion euros," said Lauterbach.
The income of the statutory health insurance funds amounting to 143.5 billion euros was offset by expenditure amounting to 143.8 billion.
According to the ministry, the official circle of estimators for health insurance is forecasting expenditure and income for the current and coming year in mid-October.
On this basis, the ministry then announces how high the average additional contribution rate must be for 2023 in order to cover the expenses.