Berlin. Germany's AOK health insurance fund has sharply criticized the federal cabinet's draft law on stabilizing statutory health insurance contribution rates, warning that what was originally billed as one of the most significant healthcare reforms in years has now become a "budget consolidation law."
German health insurance fund slams flawed reform draft as destabilizing
Carola Reimann, chair of the AOK Federal Association, said on Wednesday that annual federal subsidies for statutory health insurance (GKV) would be slashed by €2 billion, while a €250 million increase in federal funds to cover healthcare costs for citizens receiving basic welfare benefits was "purely symbolic." She called the measures "not a coherent policy, but a sleight of hand," arguing that savings on the expenditure side were being eroded rather than leveraging the cost-cutting potential identified by the government's Health Finance Commission.
The AOK did welcome plans for a levy on sugary drinks and measures to ease financial burdens for sick pay recipients and spouses covered under family insurance policies. Reimann also criticized proposals to further reduce the pharmaceutical industry's contribution to stabilizing GKV finances.
She urged lawmakers to address the existing imbalances and new distortions in the legislative process, warning that the bill in its current form would fail to achieve its stated goal of stabilizing contribution rates. Reimann cautioned that rates could rise at the turn of the year and called for meaningful federal funding to fully cover healthcare costs for welfare recipients. She deemed the planned cuts to federal subsidies "unacceptable" and demanded their reversal, while insisting that the pharmaceutical sector must make a substantial contribution to the GKV savings package.
