Health insurance companies at their limit – political reforms fail to materialise
07.07.2025 16:24
The financial situation of the statutory health insurance (SHI) system remains strained. Benefit expenditures are rising extremely dynamically, as the annual report of the SBK Siemens Company Health Insurance Fund published today clearly demonstrates. In 2024, the SBK's growth rate was just under nine percent, while the revenue side recorded an increase of just over four percent. The system as a whole is coming under pressure – and the urgently needed financial and structural reforms are still a long way off.
"The health insurance funds provide the population with access to good healthcare over 90% of the total—under increasingly difficult financial conditions. Political reforms are urgently needed," emphasizes SBK board member Dr. Gertrud Demmler in light of these figures.
Rising expenses – and no political answers
The dynamics of spending are evident across all service areas: In 2024, the SBK recorded an increase in spending of around 12 percent for pharmaceuticals, almost 11 percent for hospital services, and around 7.5 percent for outpatient care. These developments are not exceptional, but rather reflect the overall situation of the statutory health insurance system. At the same time, many insured individuals experience no improvement in care—on the contrary: waiting times, a shortage of skilled workers, and inadequately networked structures are creating noticeable burdens.
Demmler emphasizes: "This isn't a question of the financial management of an individual fund—it's a question of political responsibility and the shared will of self-governance to shape things. We finally need clear directions for what solid and sustainable financing should look like in the future. This must consider both the expenditure and revenue sides simultaneously. That's why we also support the broad demand of the statutory health insurance system to break the momentum with a spending moratorium."
Federal loans are not a solution
Despite clear warnings from the ranks of the statutory health insurance (GKV) and numerous expert opinions, genuine financial reform failed to materialize in 2024. Instead, measures already planned several times, such as the appropriate financing of contributions for those receiving citizen's income through federal funds, were once again postponed by the new government. After all, the amount at stake is ten billion euros per year. The federal government's loans of 2.3 billion euros for 2025 and 2026 announced last week are no solution. They are nothing more than liquidity support for the health fund, which the state would have had to provide anyway. Problems are merely masked and exacerbated – and the contributors are left to bear the growing funding gap alone.
SBK demands: Focus on quality orientation
For SBK, one thing is clear: Those who shape health must plan for tomorrow and act today. And that means:
- Better and faster care through orientation along patient pathways
- Implementing quality instead of quantity as a guiding principle
- Enable targeted and needs-based treatment through meaningful data use
- Open up scope for pragmatic solutions
"A sustainable statutory health insurance system doesn't just need money—it needs courage: courage to rethink responsibility. Courage to adapt processes and decision-making logic. And courage to establish a new culture of care together with all stakeholders," emphasizes Dr. Gertrud Demmler.
The complete 2024 Annual Report of SBK is available at https://www.sbk.org/unternehmen-sbk/aktuelle-berichte-und-zahlen/geschaeftsbericht/geschaeftsbericht-2024/ available.