Versorgung: Krankenkassen mit Halbjahres-Plus – „Keine Entwarnung“

In the first half of the year, the country's statutory health insurance funds reported a surplus of 2.6 billion euros, according to the Federal Ministry of Health in Berlin. However, this surplus was attributed to increased contributions at the start of the year and primarily aimed at replenishing reserves. As of now, the reserves amount to 7.5 billion euros and have reached the minimum required level of 0.2 months' spending across all funds.

Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) stated that these results for the first half of the year do not warrant any warning signs. "The pace of spending continues to significantly outpace revenue growth, and this trend must be halted to prevent a vicious cycle of rising contribution rates." The coalition government has already implemented a austerity law, which will lead to spending cuts in practices, clinics, pharmacies, and the pharmaceutical industry at the beginning of 2027.

These measures may also involve higher co-payments for medications for patients. From January to June, the 93 insurance funds recorded revenues of 188.9 billion euros against expenditures of 186.3 billion euros. While spending on medical services increased by 7.4 percent, it was somewhat less than the previous year's growth of 7.7 percent. The growth rates were still significantly higher than the long-term average, as reported.