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Price increases for private health insurance: Premiums grow by an average of 18 percent at the turn of the year. What those affected should consider.
Munich – Already this year 25 health insurance companies increased the amounts – but consumers are already facing another cost shock at the turn of the year: health insurance contributions are expected to record a historic increase. The additional contribution in particular is likely to be a nasty surprise for insured people. But it’s not just statutory health insurance companies that are at risk of cost explosions. For many privately insured people it will also be significantly more expensive at the beginning of 2025 – on average well into the double digits, reports the Association of Private Health Insurers.
Cost explosion for private health insurance: Contributions rise by an average of 18 percent at the turn of the year. Those affected should act now. (Archive image) © Imago/Imagebroker
Cost explosion for health insurance: premiums rise by an average of 18 percent
The Association of Private Health Insurers announced that privately insured people will have to prepare for record increases in health insurance contributions at the turn of the year PKV to: The regular review of private health insurers has shown that this is necessary – and “for around two thirds of those with private insurance, the contributions will have to increase by January 1, 2025,” it says, “the average adjustment for them is around 18 Percent”.
The reason for the drastic increase in contributions for many privately insured people is the sharp increase in medical service expenditure: “The biggest cost driver is the hospital sector,” explains the association. The costs of care increased by a full 37.5 percent per average day of care in the hospital between 2021 and 2023. Due to better wages for care, the costs of outpatient care have also increased.
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Private health insurers: double-digit price increases next year
Those with private health insurance are facing costly times. However: “In the long term, the contributions in the GKV and the PKV have developed similarly,” the Scientific Institute of the PKV (WIP) has confirmed. The contribution development is therefore comparable in both systems, according to the PKV. Silke Möhring, expert for health services at the Hesse Consumer Center, explains merkur.de to consider: “The comparison with the GKV is flawed in that people with lower incomes, especially in retirement age, usually pay significantly reduced contributions that are calculated based on income.”
According to the PKV Association, after the increase the average contribution of a PKV insured person will be around 623 euros per month. However, insured persons can find out how high the contribution will be in individual cases by notifying them from their health insurance provider.
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Due to the record increase in health insurance contributions, there will be significantly less net than gross in the future. Switching to another private health insurance can bring savings, but there are a few hurdles to consider, explains Silke Möhring: “When you switch to a new insurance company, only part of the aging provision is usually taken with you.” This is even completely excluded for contracts concluded before 2009.
“In addition, if you change insurer, a new health check is required, which often makes the change more expensive, for example if risk surcharges of 30 percent are applied to the initial premium,” says Möhring.
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Changing tariffs within the same insurance company, on the other hand, is usually less complicated and often does not require a new health examination. However, not every insurer offers different tariffs side by side. “Those who have been in the contract for over ten years and concluded the contract before 2009 can switch to the standard tariff from the age of 55 with significantly reduced services,” says Möhring. If the contract has existed since 2009, you have the option of switching to the basic tariff, with services similar to those of the statutory health insurance company.
However, switching to the other insurance system, statutory health insurance, or GKV for short, is generally only possible up to the age of 55. There is also the possibility of saving additional costs through a legal tax trick, namely the tax deductibility of health insurance contributions.
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