A savings package is intended to keep the additional contributions for statutory health insurance companies stable in 2026. But the government’s plans have been stopped for the time being – the Federal Council stood in the way. This means that other projects are now on hold.
The Federal Council has temporarily stopped the planned savings package for stable health insurance contributions. There was resistance from the federal states against the planned spending brake for clinics. This is intended to help prevent additional increases in additional contributions. The Bundestag had already approved the plans – but the state chamber called the mediation committee.
For millions of insured people, it remains unclear for the time being whether health insurance contributions will increase in the new year. Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) said that calling the mediation committee was a bad signal for Germany as a business location.
Representatives of both chambers of parliament must seek a solution in the mediation committee. It is not yet clear when he will get together. The co-ruling SPD sees an “opportunity” to spread a solution to the financial gap across several shoulders.
Majority of the savings Clinic reimbursements
The Ministry of Health’s plans for 2026 provide for savings of two billion euros. At 1.8 billion euros, a large part of this goes to hospitals: This sum is to be saved by limiting the increase in hospital reimbursements by the health insurance companies to the actual increase in costs. A clause that would lead to higher payments should therefore be suspended for 2026.
In contrast, cross-party rejection became clear in the state chamber: Baden-Württemberg’s Health Minister Manfred Lucha (Greens) complained that savings were being made one-sidedly at the expense of hospitals. Hesse’s Minister Diana Stolz (CDU) warned that the reduction for 2026 would become the new basis for the following years. This leads to permanent financial weakening. The Lower Saxony department head Andreas Philippi (SPD) criticized the clinics for being partially deprived of a recently decided inflation adjustment.
Green health expert Janosch Dahmen spoke of an “open vote of no confidence” against the minister, whose promise to secure contributions had finally collapsed.
Health insurance companies criticize Stop
The statutory health insurance companies reacted to the stop with criticism: the CEO of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, Oliver Blatt, spoke of a “political tragedy”. Without the savings, health insurance contributions would have to rise even more at the turn of the year than is already necessary. The AOK federal association complained that there was now “no reliable basis for the health insurance companies’ financial planning in the coming year”. Other health insurance companies such as DAK and Techniker also warned that a lack of the package would increase the pressure on contributions even more.
Politicians cannot directly set stable contributions. The health insurance companies themselves will decide on the additional contributions for 2026 in the coming weeks, depending on their financial situation. However, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had promised that health insurance contributions would not increase on January 1, 2026.
Even before the decision in the Federal Council, health insurance companies and the opposition warned of foreseeable increases in additional contributions in 2026, as many health insurance companies have to replenish reserves to the prescribed minimum values.
Further projects on hold
With the appeal to the Mediation Committee, a whole series of projects have now been put on hold. The austerity package was subsequently added to the law to expand the skills of nursing staff.
It also provides for better access to preventive services for people who are cared for at home and simplification of applications for care services. In addition, the regulation on the number of sick days for children is to be extended until the end of 2026.
