Federal Health Minister Nina Warken's (CDU) draft law to stabilize statutory health insurance—building on her April 14 announcement of the Finance Commission's 66 savings proposals—is now public, aiming for nearly 20 billion euros in relief by 2027. Coalition partners, especially the CSU, criticize the burden distribution amid a looming 15 billion euro deficit.
Last year, statutory health insurers' expenditures rose 7.8 percent to 352 billion euros, outpacing revenues and threatening contribution hikes. Warken's reform package, drawing from the expert commission's recommendations first presented two weeks prior to her Berlin press conference, seeks to avert a 15 billion euro deficit in 2027 through nearly 20 billion euros in savings, including 3.8 billion euros from the insured—allowing stable contribution rates.
The draft, unveiled this week, is set for cabinet approval before the summer break, but faces resistance within the coalition. CSU parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek told Stern: "There are correct approaches... such as ensuring expenditures do not rise faster than revenues and that everyone contributes. But it is all well-intentioned but not sustainable if the entry into insurance-unrelated benefits does not succeed." The CSU demands shifting costs for citizen's income recipients away from insurers.
This follows earlier series developments, including the commission's 66 proposals, Warken's partial adoption plans, and prior CSU skepticism.
