Statutory health insurers (SHI) offer partly better services than private health insurers in premium tariffs, according to a study. This is the result of a study conducted by the consulting firm PremiumCircle on behalf of the Green Party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, which was made available to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
According to the study, the top tariffs of private insurers fail to meet an average of more than a quarter (27 percent) of the minimum requirements defined as indispensable. With the GKV it is only three per cent. "The recurring claim that the statutory health insurance is only second-class is clearly refuted by this study," Green Party health expert Maria Klein-Schmeink told the RND. Instead, she criticized, many of the private tariffs examined could not even guarantee elementary services.
For the study, PremiumCircle defined 103 minimum criteria, 100 of which are part of the GKV's benefits catalog, according to dpa. In addition, higher benefits for dental prostheses and coverage of the cost of eyeglasses without age limit were included, which the study authors believe must be part of a comprehensive health insurance policy.
According to the study, there are large gaps compared to the statutory insurance in the private tariffs, especially for cures and rehabilitation. Poorer conditions would also often exist for palliative care, home health care, psychotherapy and vaccinations.