KASSEL (dpa-AFX) – According to the President of the Federal Social Court, Rainer Schlegel, the statutory health insurance (GKV) in Germany should be financed by taxes. “I could imagine switching to a tax-financed system, especially in the statutory, contribution-financed health insurance system,” said Schlegel in an interview with the “Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine” (HNA, Friday).
So far, statutory health insurance has largely ignored the problem of demographic development, Schlegel explained. But it is the same there. “The cost increase in healthcare is huge because we have a very innovative pharmaceutical industry and tremendous medical advances,” he said. The contributions to the statutory health insurance are essentially paid for by employees and employers. But the money is not enough now.
“The lower wage brackets and the labor factor as a whole would be significantly relieved,” explained Schlegel. So far, the contribution burden has ended at the contribution assessment limit – this year it was 4987.50 euros. “When switching to tax financing, the overall economic performance of every citizen and every company would be the benchmark.”
The change requires new structures. “There would have to be a concentration of health insurance companies. They could no longer be public corporations, because a tax-financed system has no members,” said Schlegel. “That’s a big wheel to turn. But turning it is probably inevitable.”/nis/DP/men