Hospital.Help

Berlin – The average additional contribution rate for statutory health insurance (GKV) should actually be officially set by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) today. But that didn’t happen. The additional contribution rate was neither announced by the BMG nor published in the Federal Gazette.

The ministry also commented today when asked by German medical journal not to that. The reasons therefore remain open. It is likely that the average additional contribution rate will not be announced until the traffic light coalition has agreed on increasing the contribution assessment limit. This is an important calculation basis for determining the average additional contribution rate.

The appraisal group made up of the BMG, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and the Federal Office for Social Security (BAS) already had trouble with this. On October 16th, after an extended meeting, he predicted that the average additional contribution rate for 2025 is likely to rise by 0.8 percentage points to 2.5 percent of contributory income.

However, the experts from the estimator group were already missing the calculation size for the contribution assessment limit – the Federal Ministry of Finance had blocked this usual annual adjustment in the Federal Cabinet at short notice.

This concerns the question of up to what level of income contributions for health and social insurance will be due in the future – and the adjustment of tax rates to inflation and the subsistence level.

The ministry of Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) is aiming for a decision on the regulation at the next cabinet meeting on Wednesday next week. But that is not certain.

The average additional contribution rate also plays an important role for health insurance companies. They then decide whether and to what extent they will adjust their own additional contribution rate. This must then be communicated to those with health insurance in good time before the turn of the year. The calculations are also the basis for the households that have to set up the cash registers.

At the beginning of November, the health insurance funds are usually used up. The gap of two months until the end of the year is usually financed primarily through additional contributions from health insurance companies. Instead of tackling structural reforms, the increasing costs would be passed on to those paying contributions, i.e. insured people and employers, according to the health insurance companies. © may/bee/aerzteblatt.de