Overview
- Chancellery chief Thorsten Frei said some benefits must be removed to reduce costs and called for stronger gatekeeping by primary care doctors before specialist visits.
- Verivox reported that 31 statutory insurers will raise their additional contributions for 2026, including Techniker Krankenkasse to 2.69 percent and DAK-Gesundheit to 3.2 percent.
- Economist Monika Schnitzer urged higher self-payments, including a revived practice fee, warned contribution rates could reach 25 percent without reforms, and argued for cutting non‑evidence‑based benefits.
- The statutory insurers’ association countered that a practice fee would not curb spending that is projected to rise by roughly €23 billion to about €370 billion in 2026, calling instead for structural reform.
- The Bundestag and Bundesrat approved a roughly €2 billion savings package for 2026—about €1.8 billion from hospitals—which critics in the SPD and insurers deem insufficient ahead of broader reform work.