Health insurance companies are concerned about the sharp rise in membership numbers

Berlin The strong increase in membership this year is giving statutory health insurance companies additional concerns about their already disastrous financial situation. By September, the number of health insurance members had grown by a total of 700,000 to 73.8 million, according to figures from the Federal Ministry of Health. The “Tagesspiegel” had previously reported on it. The number has therefore increased more than it has in 20 years.

“A large part of them are refugees from Ukraine who were transferred to the Hartz IV system on June 1 and now have statutory health insurance,” said Andreas Storm, head of the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, the Handelsblatt. “This is an important solidarity contribution from the health insurance companies,” said Storm. “However, we expect additional costs of around one billion euros for the entire system.”