IKK boss Ralf Hermes is calling for private health insurance for specialist visits. Insured persons should pay up to a deductible of 2,000 euros themselves.
Ralf Hermes is known for his controversial statements. Now the head of the IKK Innovationskrankenkasse (277,531 insured persons) has made another controversial proposal: He is calling for voluntary private health insurance for patients covered by statutory health insurance so that they can be treated by a specialist. This is reported by “Bild”.
According to “Bild”, Hermes suggests that insured persons voluntarily leave the statutory health insurance (GKV) in order to take out private supplementary insurance for specialist appointments. The insured person chooses specialist medical care up to a deductible of 2,000 euros. Up to this limit, the statutory health insurance does not cover any treatment costs, according to Hermes.
This would mean that statutory health insurance would cover the costs of expensive treatments that exceed 2,000 euros – and everything below 2,000 euros would be covered by private health insurance.
Hermes explains it like this: “The insured person chooses specialist medical care up to a deductible of 2,000 euros. In return, he receives a payment of, for example, 600 euros from the insurance company as a reward.” He can then use this payment to take out private supplementary insurance for specialist appointments. He would then be treated as a private patient by the specialist.
This would improve patient care and save costs. The model would “reduce the number of unnecessary visits to specialists,” Hermes continued. With this financing model, those with statutory insurance could “take on more responsibility” as private patients with ENT doctors, internists, gynecologists or dermatologists.
Up to now, people with statutory insurance have been able to go to the doctor as often as they want, “until the health insurance card glows,” criticizes the health insurance company boss. “We can no longer afford this flat rate model.”
It remains to be seen whether this model will lead to a significant reduction in the burden on specialist practices, lower expenditure for statutory health insurance companies and faster appointments for patients, as Hermes believes. Hermes has already repeatedly sparked controversy in the past.
For example, he advocated halving the number of health insurance companies in Germany. He also demanded that everyone should pay for their own dentures.
He is equally critical of the long period of one and a half years for which sick pay is paid, which many people use as a bridge to old-age pension. In his view, the contribution-free family insurance also needs to be reformed.
