Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, from the SPD, expressed skepticism regarding the most significant reform proposal from the expert commission concerning the statutory health insurance system. According to Klingbeil speaking to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday edition), covering the health costs for recipients of the Bürgergeld entirely through tax revenue, instead of social contributions, would cost approximately twelve billion euros.
While the SPD leader stated he has no inherent objection to the proposal, he pointed out that the current budget already has deficits. “Those [deficits] will not get smaller if we take out more money” Klingbeil stated.
Consequently, he argued that the commission’s suggestion does not represent a genuine financial relief but rather a simplistic calculation. Asserting that shifting deficits from one area to another is futile, he insisted, “We must close them generally”.
The Finance Commission on Health recommended in its recently published report that the federal government should fully assume the health costs for Bürgergeld recipients because this benefit is unrelated to insurance coverage. This represents the proposal with the largest potential financial impact. According to the plan outlined, a higher tax subsidy would reduce contributions for those in statutory insurance while simultaneously encouraging private insurers to contribute to the financing.
