Information about the GKV additional contribution: At least one less impudence

One point of Nina Warken's health reform, which is intended to save statutory health insurance companies a lot of money, received little attention: the health insurance companies should no longer inform their members when they increase the additional contribution. You can charge this individually in addition to the general contribution rate. It currently averages 2.9 percent and varies between 2.5 percent and 4.38 percent depending on the fund. The reason for the measure: By foregoing the information letters, one could save several million euros in labor, paper and postage costs.

Warken's successor Carsten Linnemann (CDU) wants to withdraw the project. “The health insurance companies should continue to have to inform their members individually in the future, for example digitally via the health insurance app or in writing,” he told the Rheinische Post.

That's right. Of course: bureaucracy costs money. Money that could always be used for something else. But with the same reasoning, one could also decide, for example, to stop sending election information, according to the motto: Citizens have to find out for themselves when the election is and where their polling station is. And if they find out too late: Oops, bad luck. And we would then have the millions saved left over for whatever, because after all there is always a whatever for which there is no money. An absurd idea.

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In addition, health insurance companies can behave like cunning private companies that covertly increase subscription costs and make cancellations more difficult. In the event of premium increases, insured persons have a special right of termination, which means that the otherwise usual commitment period of twelve months no longer applies. However, if the increase in contributions only becomes visible when less money from your salary has ended up in the account, the special notice period has already expired. All of this is fatal for the already weakened trust in the public sector.