Health Minister Pushes for Billion-Dollar Boost to Combat Soaring Health Premiums
Federal Health Minister Seeks Financial Allocation of One Billion Dollars from the National Government
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In a bold move, the health minister is demanding the federal government to fork over a whopping billion dollars to stave off or at least minimize skyrocketing health insurance rates. The health and long-term care sectors are grappling with financial shortfalls on the order of billions, partly due to the feds' negligence in contributing to unemployment benefits and COVID-19 debts. Fresh-faced Health Minister Nina Warken gives the feds a stern warning: "Pay up first."
Newcomer to the health minister role, Nina Warken, aims to keep a lid on soaring health insurance premiums with an emergency relief package. "We're gonna address this comprehensive package to avoid increasing premiums as much as possible," she shared with the German Press Agency.
Warken paints a grim picture of the health insurance sector, likening it to a ticking time bomb. While the commission for sustainable financing of health insurance, as outlined in the coalition agreement, should be implemented posthaste, she acknowledges, "We're not gonna wait for the commission's results until 2027."
In the proposed package, Warken brings up additional tax dollars in the billions for health insurance funds. This refers to the federal government's unpaid health insurance contributions for the jobless. "Got a problem right here," Warken declares. "[The contributions from job centers] don't cover their health expenses. There's an imbalance we'll sort out." Health insurance fund calculations suggest that if the feds step up and cover unemployment benefit recipients' true costs, they'd need to shell out an additional 10 billion euros.
Warken doesn't stop there; she also calls for the federal government to settle a pending billion-dollar debt owed to long-term care insurance, currently teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. "The feds owe the long-term care insurance more than five billion euros for pandemic-related expenses, like tests and the care shield, which saved countless facilities from shutting down," says Warken. "The long-term care insurance needs compensation for this," she insists.
Warken stresses, "There should be no barriers to stabilizing long-term care financing in the short term." Long-term care insurance is facing "pressing issues," Warken concedes, yet fundamental reforms require time. The joint federal-state working group, to be established by the coalition, will expedite results, but it will still take time. "Meanwhile, temporary measures to stabilize long-term care financing are urgently needed," Warken advises.
"We need to discuss this within the coalition," she muses, looking at the coalition agreement that doesn't allocate federal budget funds for long-term care insurance. "This isn't a single demand," she stresses. "It's about a solution, a complete package." Industry experts forecast a deficit of up to 5.8 billion euros in the long-term care insurance this year.
Both the 10 billion from the feds for the health insurance of unemployed citizens and the pandemic debt settlement were on the table during coalition negotiations between the Union and the SPD, but they were both dropped in the final version.
Keywords:- Health insurance companies- Statutory health insurance companies- Statutory health insurance- Health insurance- Long-term care insurance- Nina Warken
The health minister, Nina Warken, proposes an emergency relief package that includes billions of additional tax dollars for health insurance funds to combat soaring health premiums, which she claims would address not only the current financial shortfalls but also the unpaid health insurance contributions for the jobless.
In her plan, Warken also demands the federal government to settle a pending billion-dollar debt owed to long-term care insurance, citing the importance of long-term care financing to the health-and-wellness of the community and ensuring science-based solutions for future health crises.
