That’s not good, especially in the Corona times: The Debeka, Germany’s largest private health insurers (PKV), increases the contributions to the 1. January 2021, on average, by a whopping 17.6 per cent. The rich SIP from the bottle is a lot of Trouble with customers and consumers and the political debate to the PKV protectors fire. The SPD and the greens want to abolish the System entirely and require the introduction of a citizens insurance policy for all. The Union and the FDP are holding on to the current dual System of statutory and private.
Currently, about 8.7 million people have a private insurance, the vast majority of the population is in the case of a statutory health insurance Fund. With 2.45 million, the Debeka, the biggest provider is insured, their main group of customers are civil servants.
The private health insurance company will take the increase as evidence that urgent legislative amendment is necessary. Because the current System leads almost automatically to the drastic jumps – an open edge of the PKV.
The insurers are obliged to check regularly whether the calculated contributions are still sufficient. “The current adjustment is a snapshot,” said Debeka-Board of Directors Roland Weber of the SZ. In the four years previously, the company had not increased the contributions. The strong increase was the result of the calculation bases.
The insurer may only adjust when performance issues or probability of dying by five percent or ten percent from the original estimate to deviate, that is when the companies are different. If the threshold is exceeded, you need to calculate the premiums and all of the other factors include that influence them.
The are currently mainly the low interest rates. In the PKV Insured to save in a younger, healthier years, so you have to pay in the age of not-so-high posts. This ageing reserve to pay interest on the insurer. The interest rate falls, the contribution increases, so that at the age enough is available.
This effect has played in the current increase in a Central role, said Weber. Thus, half of the impact of the low rate of interest to be processed.
The industry is promoting in the policy, so far in vain, that you should also take advantage of changes in interest rates as the occasion for adjustments. Then the premiums would be increased regular, large jumps could be avoided.
Officials as well as employees and self-employed are affected in the case of Debeka to the same extent. In the case of employees and self-employed persons, the insurer wants to avoid but special hardening by means of the Corona pandemic. Your premiums are significantly higher than those of civil servants, they feel the increases more. Therefore, the Debeka stretch the adjustment over two years.
Weber expected for the near future, no further nasty Surprises. “We are confident that this will not happen.” The power expenditure is set to rise currently, in spite of the pandemic slowly. In the first nine months there was only an increase of one percent. He points out that the increases in contributions, despite the large jumps in particular years over the time limit. The Debeka, the Institute for health and social research (IGES), the contribution to development to investigate. Thereafter, the contributions of the insurer of 2000 to 2019, on average, have risen by 2.8 percent per year in the statutory health insurance system according to the IGES, a Plus of 2.9 percent.
This will help to mitigate the Annoyance of many customers about the increase, but barely. Also, the fact that the contributions of long-term care insurance to 1. January 2021 not climbing, is only a weak consolation.
The Debeka comes early this year with the Information on the post adjustment. Many of the competitors follow in the coming weeks. Further negative Surprises are likely.
The Federal government Insured (BdV) considers the proposal of the industry to make the contribution of adjustments to regular, in order to prevent big jumps as in the case of Debeka, for “window dressing”. The consumer advocates find the smoothing of the adjustment is even worse than the random jumps. The reason: Due to the continuous increase in the Insured paid in the end more. With the measure, the company wanted to just cover, that you can not calculate properly, stressed a spokeswoman. “The so-called smoothing of the premiums in the private health insurance is a particularly customer-hostile.”