Following the forecast increase in health insurance contributions next year, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach does not initially expect any further increases. The SPD politician said that he does not believe that health insurance contributions will have to be increased again for 2026 Picture on Sunday. “With the reforms that we have already made, which are now starting to take effect, and the reforms that we are currently making, this increase in contribution rates will actually come to a halt,” said the minister.
Experts from the so-called estimator group had determined a mathematically necessary increase in the contribution rate of 0.8 points to 2.5 percent of the income subject to contributions for the federal election year 2025. However, the value is a theoretical quantity. Each health insurance company decides for itself how much the rates will actually rise.
Lauterbach: Hundreds of clinics will close
Without the hospital reform, the contribution rate would not have increased as much as is now expected, said Lauterbach. “The hospital reform now costs something in the short term and puts pressure on the contribution rate.” It is clear that in ten years at the latest there will be a few hundred fewer hospitals. “That’s right. We don’t have the medical needs for these hospitals,” said Lauterbach. At the same time, he said that urgently needed rural hospitals would receive supplements in order to survive.
Hospital reform
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The Bundestag passed the controversial hospital reform on Thursday with the majority of the traffic light coalition. A core part of the reform is greater medical specialization. Smaller hospitals in particular should offer fewer services in the future and limit themselves to those procedures that they are good at.
In the future, patients will sometimes have to take longer journeys to the nearest relevant hospital – but they should receive better treatment in return. Lauterbach speaks of the biggest health care reform in 20 years.
According to the Ministry of Health, Germany has the highest hospital and bed density in Europe with around 1,700 hospitals. Many clinics are in the red.
Following the forecast increase in health insurance contributions next year, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach does not initially expect any further increases. The SPD politician said that he does not believe that health insurance contributions will have to be increased again for 2026 Picture on Sunday. “With the reforms that we have already made, which are now starting to take effect, and the reforms that we are currently making, this increase in contribution rates will actually come to a halt,” said the minister.
