DAK-Gesundheit Joins Lawsuits Against Federal โขGoverment โOver Health Fund Allocations & Citizen’s Benefit Costs
DAK-Gesundheit,a statutory โhealth insurance โcompany,is filing a โฃlawsuit against theโ federal government onโ Monday,alleging inadequate โขfunding fromโ the health fund and deliberately increasedโ health insurance contributions impacting insured individuals. This actionโ adds to a growing wave of legal challenges brought by statutory health โฃinsuranceโฃ companies against the government.
According to DAK-Gesundheitโ CEO andreas Storm, the lawsuitโ specifically targets the current notifications regarding insufficient โallocationsโค from the health fund for 2026. “We demandโค adequate financing of the allocations for citizens’ benefit recipients,”โข Storm stated to the “Bild” newspaper. He argues that if statutory health insurance companies receivedโ the full ten billion euros in federal fundsโข they are entitled to annually, contribution rates could remain stable in 2026, resulting in a relief of 0.5 contribution points.
The case will be filed โwithโค the State Social Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, which has โfirst instance jurisdiction.
This lawsuit follows a similar action taken by the National Association of Statutory Health โขInsurance Funds โin September. That โlawsuit centersโ on โขthe federal government’s failure to fully finance โฃtheโ treatment costs of citizens receiving citizen’s benefit. The associationโฃ estimates this financing gap to be around ten billion eurosโ per year. Data indicates that nearly half โof citizens’ benefit recipients are foreigners.
currently, โฃstatutoryโข health insurance companies recieve a flat-rate contribution โof 133.17 euros per month for eachโข member receiving citizen’s benefit,anโฃ amount adjusted annually. However, a 2022 report commissioned by the Nationalโ Association of Statutory โคHealth Insurance Funds โขrevealed thatโข this flat rate needed to be almost threeโค times โhigher to adequatelyโข cover the actual costs of care.
The financial healthโ ofโ statutory health insurance companies has been strained for years. Estimates project a deficit of 6.2โ billion euros for 2024, โleading to notable contribution rate increases โขat โคthe beginning of the year – the largest increase in at least โ50 years.โข
In response to a declining liquidity reserve in the health fund (which receives contributions from legally insured members, employers, andโค tax revenue and then distributes funds to health insurance companies), the federal governmentโ provided a short-termโ subsidy in the spring.
Source: DO/sin โข(as indicated in the original article)
