The savings package proposed by Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) for statutory health insurance funds may yield significantly lower additional revenue than initially forecasted by the expert commission. According to calculations by the IGES institute, the reform to the family insurance structure is estimated to bring in only about 2.2 billion Euros. This figure contrasts sharply with the 4.4 billion Euros in savings anticipated by the Commission for the Stabilization of Financing for statutory health insurance.
The core of the discrepancy lies in the Minister’s adjusted model. Unlike the commission’s suggestion, Warken’s plan removes the requirement for non-earning spouses to pay a flat minimum contribution exceeding 200 Euros. Instead, she proposes an income-dependent contribution rate of 3.5 percent.
The economist Martin Albrecht stated to the “Handelsblatt” that, “according to our calculations, this would halve the revenue effect compared to the commission’s proposal”. He added that “a deduction considers income differences and is therefore less socially critical than the commission’s proposal”.
Furthermore, this new regulation is not slated to take effect until 2028, a delay that will naturally postpone the projected savings. These details were announced by Warken during a press conference on Tuesday. The IGES estimates that roughly 1.3 million married couples would be impacted, although exceptions are planned for parents of small children and professional caregivers.
