Voluntary Health Insurance Benefits Should Be Scrapped, Says the KBV

In the debate over cost-cutting in the healthcare system, the head of Germany’s association of statutory health insurance physicians, Andreas Gassen, has called for a complete abolition of the voluntary benefits offered by public health insurers, which are often used for marketing purposes.

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“If there is not enough money for the statutory health insurance benefits catalog and cuts have to be made, then ‘nice to have’ benefits should be the first to go,” he told the newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND, Monday editions).

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“It can’t be that insurers want to reduce payment for services decided by the Federal Joint Committee while at the same time spending large sums on things that are mainly good for advertising,” said the chairman of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), referring to demands from insurers to cut doctors’ fees. Gassen estimated the potential savings from a complete abolition of these benefits at nearly one billion euros per year.

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Gassen was referring to the so-called statutory optional benefits, benefits that go beyond the standard level of statutory health insurance and vary from one insurer to another. These include controversial treatment methods such as homeopathy, anthroposophy, or phytotherapy. In addition, many insurers subsidize health courses or the purchase of fitness trackers. Insurers are frequently accused of using such offers, whose medical value is often questioned, to spend community funds on marketing.

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Reforms to Germany’s statutory health insurance system are currently being hotly debated, driven in part by massive deficits. Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) has announced a multibillion-euro savings package for the summer. At the same time, discussions are underway about broader changes to spending and revenue, including widening the contribution base and reducing benefits.

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