Jens Baas, the chief of the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), is advocating for a fundamental redesign of Germany’s dual health insurance system. Speaking to Spiegel, Baas suggested that both private and statutory health insurance systems should be reformed or ultimately discarded.
The TK, which serves as Germany’s largest health fund with over twelve million members, proposes a unified model that incorporates the strengths of both existing systems. Baas outlined several key improvements needed for this new structure.
Firstly, he argued that the system must eliminate risk selection, a practice currently found only in the statutory health insurance (GKV). Furthermore, the ability for members to switch health funds at any time-a characteristic difficult to achieve under the private insurance (PKV) system-should be maintained. A third requirement is the prohibition of allowing health insurance providers to extract profits. Finally, the framework must enforce certain standards for services covered by the fund.
Baas also pointed to advantages of the private system, such as the freedom from state interference. He noted that the government cannot access the capital reserves accumulated by private insurers, a safeguard that would need to be implemented in any new system. Another benefit of the PKV, according to Baas, is greater contractual flexibility. Theoretically, private insurance is more agile in establishing contracts with doctors, hospitals, and therapists compared to statutory funds. While Baas acknowledged that smaller private funds often struggle to implement this flexibility, he argued that a unified system could successfully achieve this.
Despite his proposed solutions, Baas also criticized the ongoing political discussion regarding the introduction of a mandatory “citizen’s insurance,” stating that policymakers are currently too caught up in self-serving partisan arguments.
