The recent demand from CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann to drastically reduce the number of statutory health insurance providers has sparked strong criticism within the healthcare industry. Speaking to “Stern” Oliver Blatt, CEO of the GKV-Spitzenverband (the peak association for statutory health insurance funds), stated, “This is once again a debate lacking factual basis and completely divorced from reality”. Blatt suggested that Linnemann had not read the report from the Finance Commission on Health, which clearly demonstrates that the proportion of administrative expenses to total expenditures has been declining for years. He added that industry experts expect politicians to propose substantial structural reforms rather than engaging in superficial debates.
Earlier, Linnemann had called for a reduction in the number of health insurance funds as part of health care reform. Addressing RTL and ntv, he remarked that ten health insurance funds would be sufficient in Germany. He argued that many of the current funds typically offer the same services, thereby creating excessive administrative overhead. He stated, “When I see billions being spent for nothing because there is no competition, we have to address that, which is why over 90 funds is too many”. The CDU General Secretary suggested pruning smaller funds, citing thresholds such as 200,000 or 250,000 insured members.
Blatt strongly refuted this argument in “Stern”. He noted that out of the over thousand health insurance funds in the 1990s, only 93 are currently involved in providing care and competing for quality service. According to Blatt, the statutory health insurance system remains a prime example of how care and administration can be efficiently organized and continuously optimized. He concluded by suggesting that if all sectors of the health system displayed the same readiness for change as the health insurance funds, many problems would likely have already been solved.
