Statutory health insurance in Germany - statistics & facts
Germany’s health insurance system is ranked as the 13th best in the world. This is based on factors such as the general health of the population as well as access to health services. Germany offers both public and private health insurance. Statutory health insurance is compulsory for all those who are employed and whose income is below 69,300 euros a year. Employees pay a contribution rate of 14.6 percent of their gross salary, which is matched by their employer. The government also contribute to the statutory health insurance fund so that pensioners and those who are unemployed can also have access to healthcare. Some people choose to apply for private health insurance, usually people who earn over the 69,300 euros threshold.
The setup of the German health insurance is successful, as it gives everyone access to healthcare. However, the aging population will put a strain on the system, as it is employed people who contribute the most. This means that potentially the burden on taxpayers will increase, as they will have to make larger contributions in order to have access to the same quality of healthcare.
Insurance companies
There are over 74 million people who are covered by statutory health insurance in Germany, which accounts for the vast majority of the population. Although most people have statutory health insurance, there are different companies that people can choose to be insured with. There are around 95 companies with which people can be insured, although there is hardly any difference in terms of what they offer. The number of health insurance companies has declined over the past years, but this is due to the large amount of merger and acquisition deals that take place in the health insurance sector in Germany.Expenditure
A significant amount of money is spent on keeping the health insurance system running smoothly. In 2024, this totaled over 306 billion euros. Public health spending has been increasing steadily, which is due to rising costs of running hospitals and of medication. Over 88 billion euros was spent by statutory health insurance on hospital treatment, and it was the medical service on which the most money was spent. Other areas which cost insurance companies a lot of money were medical treatment and medicine. Comparatively, rehabilitation services, dental prostheses, and early detection incurred a much lower rate of expenditure. The difference between revenue and expenditure by health insurance funds in Germany, has been increasing in recent years and is forecast to continue increasing. This will cause problems in the future especially if the gap continues to increase, to resolve this it is likely that the contributions made by employees and their employers will have to increase.The setup of the German health insurance is successful, as it gives everyone access to healthcare. However, the aging population will put a strain on the system, as it is employed people who contribute the most. This means that potentially the burden on taxpayers will increase, as they will have to make larger contributions in order to have access to the same quality of healthcare.
