Healthcare Costs Rise: Social Security Contributions Increase
Here’s a breakdown of the key information from the provided text, focusing on the increasing social security contributions in Germany:
* Rising Contributions: Companies and industry groups are concerned about increasing social security contributions making Germany a less attractive business location.
* How it’s Calculated: The contribution is based on the average of additional contributions collected by individual health insurance funds (cash registers) as a percentage of monthly income.
* Recent Increase: The contribution was recently raised from 2.5% to 2.92% in May by the federal Ministry of Health.
* dramatic Jumps in Individual Funds: Specific health insurance funds (BKK Hercules and BKK Braun Aesculap) have seen significant increases in their additional contributions (e.g., Hercules from 3.48% to 4.38%).Many other funds are reporting similar increases.
* Impact on Deficit Calculation: The average additional contribution is used to calculate the expected deficit of the statutory health insurance system, currently estimated at 4-8 billion euros.
* Future Increases Likely: Without intervention, the additional contribution is expected to rise again next year.
* Government Response: The government aims to prevent further increases, but a clear plan of action is currently lacking.
In essence, the article highlights a growing problem with the financing of German healthcare, leading to increased costs for employers and employees.