Statutory Health Insurance Plans Healthcare Reform: IG Metall Fights for the Insured

Will it really happen? Will the federal government push through its plans for health care reform? Despite widespread criticism from unions and social welfare organizations?

Here’s the current situation: The Federal Cabinet has approved thedraft billfor the reform of statutory health insurance (GKV). Next, the bill must pass the Bundestag. So everything is still up in the air. There’s still room for improvements to the bill.

IG Metall is using this window of opportunity to apply pressure—on behalf of those with statutory health insurance, on behalf of the millions of workers who pay their health insurance premiums every month and expect good health care in return.

Why is IG Metall criticizing the reform plans?

No one denies that our healthcare system needs reform. However, the focus should be on the two largest cost drivers: spending on prescription drugs and hospital treatments (more informationhere).

Yet in many respects, the federal government’s plans are heading in a different direction.

“The entire package suffers from a glaring imbalance at the expense of the insured,” says IG Metall’s Social Affairs Director Hans-Jürgen Urban. For despite the positive decision to refrain from cutting sick pay, the following still holds true: “Higher copayments, partial sick leave, and restrictions on free co-insurance—driven purely by cost considerations—place an undue burden on insured individuals and are unacceptable.”

Partial sick leave , in particular, is dangerous from the perspective of workers.

In the future, employees will be expected to discuss with their doctor and employer whether they can perform part of their work duties despite being ill. Despite health limitations, they could come under pressure to resume work—at least partially—with the risk of prolonging their illness and infecting coworkers.

Furthermore, it is hard to imagine that doctors will be able to assess to what percentage someone is still capable of working in their respective job.

Another particularly critical issue is the reassessment of subsidies to statutory health insurance funds. While the federal government intends to cover a larger portion of healthcare costs for basic income recipients in the future, it states that the funding gap of approximately twelve billion euros will not be closed until 2051. At the same time, the federal subsidy is set to be reduced by two billion euros annually through 2030.

The bottom line is that health insurance funds will end up in the red as a result—even though the reform’s stated goal was actually to stabilize the finances of the statutory health insurance system.

For IG Metall Executive Board member Urban, this amounts to “budget consolidation at the expense of the insured” and places an additional burden on premium payers.

What is IG Metall doing for the insured?

IG Metall aims to secure improvements to the draft bill. This can only be achieved through political channels.

Campaigns are now underway nationwide: The approximately 150 IG Metall offices are putting pressure on local members of the Bundestag—they are being urged to advocate for workers’ interests in parliament. Signatures are being collected at workplaces. The local press is being informed.

The goal: changes to the draft bill.

What kind of reform is fair—and what do people want?

To make the healthcare system sustainable for the future, genuine structural reforms are needed.

IG Metall demands:

• Full coverage of healthcare costs for basic income recipients by the federal government.
• More integrated care centers close to where people live to reduce hospital costs.
• Digitization of administrative processes in hospitals and doctors’ offices.

The cornerstone of a fair healthcare reform would be the introduction of a universal health insurance system.

This means putting an end to a two-tier healthcare system that treats those with public and private insurance unequally—and instead creating a healthcare system into which everyone contributes.

The vast majority of people in Germany support this idea of solidarity. Nearly 80 percent are in favor of a universal health insurance system, as shown by a recent survey by the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). Even a majority of privately insured individuals support the system change.

Creating a more equitable healthcare system—that is the challenge facing policymakers. They still have the chance to meet this challenge.