In light of the tense financial situation facing statutory health insurance funds, a majority of insured individuals support higher taxes on alcohol and tobacco, as well as the introduction of a sugar tax. This emerges from a representative survey conducted by consulting firm Deloitte, which was made available to news agency AFP on Thursday. Two out of three statutory insured individuals (66 percent) consider an increase in the spirits tax to be sensible.
More than half of respondents also deem a higher tobacco tax (59 percent) and the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (52 percent) to be sensible. The federal government also plans to implement all three measures. Previously, an expert commission on statutory health insurance (GKV) reform had proposed these steps.
However, the approval from those surveyed by Deloitte goes even beyond the currently discussed measures. Nearly two-thirds of insured individuals (64 percent) support raising taxes on other alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer as well. The introduction of a sugar tax not only on beverages but also on sugar-containing products like sweets is supported by 53 percent.
"These are good news for a healthcare system that must be oriented more toward prevention overall," Deloitte partner Gregor-Konstantin Elbel, responsible for GKV, told AFP. However, prevention works primarily in the long term. To reduce the financing gap at health insurance funds in the medium term, Elbel calls for sustainable reduction of service expenditures above all.
Deloitte also surveyed approval for other reform measures planned by the government. According to the results, 84 percent consider higher co-payments for medications to be not very sensible or not sensible at all. Regarding lower subsidies for dental prosthetics, 80 percent expressed this view.
Very few insured individuals (17 percent) expect that the measures proposed by the expert commission and partially adopted by the government will lead to stabilization of contributions in the GKV. In contrast, the vast majority at 77 percent assume they will have to pay more in the short term.
According to the evaluation, 84 percent even expect a further increase in contributions in the medium term. Almost every second person (45 percent) also anticipates a deterioration in healthcare provision over the coming one to two years.
For the analysis, Deloitte surveyed more than 900 statutorily insured individuals from a representative group of 1,000 consumers between April 13 and 16. The federal cabinet initiated the statutory health insurance reform last week. With it, approximately 16 billion euros are to be saved in the coming year. The Bundestag must now decide on the draft legislation next.
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