TK boss: Financial equalization promotes illness instead of prevention

30.11.2015 10:19

According to estimates, 70 percent of health expenditure in Germany goes towards the treatment of so-called diseases of civilization, such as diabetes or back problems. According to the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), a lot could be done about this with a healthier lifestyle, but the incentives in the health system are wrong.

In financial equalization (the so-called Morbi-RSA), health insurance companies would be financially penalized if, for example, they ensure that an insured person's diabetes does not worsen. However, it is financially attractive to document as much illness as possible. The more illnesses a fund can prove among its insured persons, the more money it receives from the health fund.

Dr. Jens Baas, CEO of TK, criticizes the fact that health insurance companies have little incentive to ensure the better health of their customers. Instead of promoting competition for the best possible medical care and lean administration, the current RSA rewards the most dramatic documentation of illness.

In order to sustainably promote people's health and combat lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and back pain, a nationwide commitment to health promotion is needed. “However, prevention costs money. If we want to ensure that people find a healthier lifestyle in the long term, then this commitment must also be rewarded. But if we get less from the fund the better our insured people are doing, something is wrong.” Baas is therefore calling for lifestyle-related illnesses that can be avoided through prevention and a healthier lifestyle to no longer be overweighted in financial compensation.