Health fund: No high burdens

17.11.2009 16:24

Federal Insurance Office: The burden on health insurance companies in the federal states due to health funds is significantly lower than expected

“The data shows that the regional distributional effects of the health fund are limited. Fears that the health fund would lead to disproportionately high burdens on health insurance companies in individual countries have not been confirmed.”

According to the so-called convergence clause, the burden on the health insurance companies in the federal states due to the introduction of the health fund in 2009 must not exceed 100 million euros, explains the Federal Insurance Office in a press release. For 2010 this value was 200 million euros. Any additional burdens would be offset by higher allocations from the health fund for insured people from the affected countries.

The amount of state-specific burdens and relief was provisionally determined in autumn 2008. After that, a total burden of 760 million euros was assumed. However, after updating the data as required by law, 130 million euros should now be sufficient to equalize the burden in 2009. However, the amounts for 2009 will not be finally determined until autumn 2010.

Since it can be assumed that the burden on health insurance companies will not exceed the 2010 threshold of 200 million euros in any country, the convergence clause will not come into effect next year.