Citation

Busse R. Eur. J. Public Health 2001; 11(2): 174-177.

Affiliation

European Observatory on Health Care Systems, Madrid Hub, c/o Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, Sinesio Delgado 8, 28029 Madrid, Spain. rbusse@isciii.es

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11420805

Abstract

In 1996 insurees in Germany's statutory health insurance system were given a right to choose their sickness fund. To ensure that all funds had an equal starting position, a risk structure compensation scheme based on income and average expenditure by age and sex was introduced. From an analysis of expenditure and transfers, data on sickness fund membership and a published survey, the following effects can be identified: sickness funds merged, with a reduction in number from 1,221 to 420 between 1993 and 2000; the risk compensation scheme narrowed differences in contribution rates; insurees left the more expensive funds for cheaper ones; and increasing transfer sums indicate further risk segregation. Thus, the compensation mechanism will have to be retained permanently, although modifications are likely.

Language: en