(de-news.net) – The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) has advanced a proposal for the introduction of a per-visit patient fee and has intensified its efforts to curtail unnecessary follow-up consultations. Andreas Gassen, chair of the KBV, indicated that insurers could broaden their revenue base by collecting a modest ‘contact charge,’”’ modeled on the low copayments used in several Asian health-care systems. He emphasized that any such fee would need to be structured in a socially equitable manner to avoid imposing disproportionate demands on patients.
Gassen also promoted a more comprehensive digital initiative, suggesting the creation of a ‘digital physician navigator’”’ to advise patients and coordinate appointments. By directing individuals to appropriate providers and sequencing consultations in an orderly manner, the system is intended to reduce duplicate or overlapping treatments. KBV representatives noted that, with sufficient funding, the service could be integrated into the existing 116117 hotline in order to deliver measurable efficiency gains.
The Federation of Statutory Health Insurers (GKV) has, in parallel, urged Federal Health Minister Nina Warken to introduce a new cost-containment program at the start of the year. The organization’s chair, Oliver Blatt, warned that, absent substantial structural reforms, contribution rates could approach 18 percent by 2027—a level he characterized as untenable for employers and insured individuals alike. Because the limited savings package adopted to date was deemed inadequate, the ministry was pressed to act swiftly to avert a further deepening of the deficit.
Blatt further reiterated that contributions were unlikely to remain stable, contrary to earlier political assurances. He projected that the average supplementary premium would rise from 2.9 to at least 3.1 percent, raising the overall contribution rate from 17.5 to approximately 17.7 percent. He also called on the minister to address rapidly escalating pharmaceutical expenditures — particularly for patent-protected medicines, which insurers contend now account for more than half of total drug spending while constituting only a minor share of prescribed daily doses.
More broadly, Blatt argued that reforms should aim not merely to stabilize but ultimately to reduce contribution rates. He maintained that, were revenue growth of five percent to be paired with expenditure increases limited to four percent, reductions would become feasible in the near term. Given that current expenditures are rising at roughly eight percent, he warned that such growth trajectories are fiscally unsustainable.
At the same time, the insurers’ federation pressed for reforms to the long-term care system and cautioned that liquidity constraints may arise in the coming year. Blatt reported that the care insurance scheme was operating on borrowed federal funds — currently amounting to 4.2 billion euros — which would cover most of next year’s shortfall but could leave several care funds requiring short-term liquidity assistance by 2026. He additionally called for stricter criteria governing the recognition of care dependency and the assignment of beneficiaries to the five care levels, noting that the 2017 reform had been exceptionally generous and had contributed to an increase in the number of beneficiaries from three million to nearly six million.
