SPD Proposes Health Levy On All Types Of Income

The SPD has proposed a new levy to help finance Germany’s healthcare system. According to a draft resolution for the party’s executive board retreat, cited by Der Spiegel on Sunday, the levy is intended to be “fair and earmarked” and would apply to all types of income. In return, the party aims to lower traditional health-insurance contributions.

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The goal, the document states, is to create a funding model “that also involves those in supporting the healthcare infrastructure who have so far not made a fair contribution.” “Today, employment income bears most of the burden of our healthcare and long-term care systems,” Der Spiegel quotes from the draft. This, it continues, places strain on many people and undermines social fairness.

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Implementing the SPD’s plan would mark a major shift in health policy: in addition to wages and salaries, the party wants capital income and rental income to contribute to healthcare financing, broadening the base of contributors. Up to now, dividends or rental income have only been factored in for voluntary members of the statutory health-insurance system, and even then only up to the standard contribution ceiling.

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As another component in strengthening the welfare state, the SPD is also calling, according to Der Spiegel, for mandatory pension insurance to be extended to civil servants, the self-employed, and elected officials. “A solidarity-based pension system must include all working people in the long term. Whoever works pays in,” Der Spiegel quotes from the draft, which is expected to be approved by the SPD executive board on Sunday. The party also wants to limit new civil-service appointments to positions involving sovereign authority, thereby reducing the overall number of civil servants.

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“We will secure the pension level of at least 48 percent beyond 2031, and pensioners must continue to participate in wage developments,” the draft states, according to Der Spiegel. With this, the SPD positions itself against considerations to link pension adjustments to inflation. The party says it aims for “a pension level that will rise over time.”

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