Bundesgesundheitsministerin Nina Warken (CDU) announced sweeping reforms aimed at stabilising Germany’s statutory health insurance system, which is currently facing deficits in the double‑digit billions. “We have to offset a deficit in the double‑digit billions next year – far more than last year” she told the “Handelsblatt” in its Thursday edition.
Warken said the reforms will rely on proposals from a commission she appointed. “It will move quickly: by summer we need to pass the law through the cabinet, so the measures can be incorporated into the calculation of supplementary contributions in the autumn”.
She critiqued the SPD’s suggestion to raise contributions by tapping into rental income and capital gains, arguing that the proposal would double‑burden the social security system relative to the capital market. “That can’t be the goal” she said.
Warken also reiterated that the federal government should take on a larger share of the contributions for recipients of the Bürgergeld. Until now, sickness funds cover these costs, effectively making statutory beneficiaries pay expenses that should be a collective social responsibility.
