The Cost Of Health Care : Germany

The Health Care Reform Act of 1988, the Health Sector Act of 1992, and the Act on the Reform of Self-Administration and Promotion of Personal Responsibility in the Statutory Health Care System of 1997 served to stablize expenditure on health services by the statutory health insurers. After the establishment of an efficient public health system in the new states, attention must be focused on solving the difficult and perennial problem of financing health services in a socially acceptable manner on a national scale.
In 1996 the statutory health insurers spent about DM235.3 billion on health services. Including administrative and other costs, health care expenditure for the year 1996 totaled DM 270 billion. As costs have risen, so have contributions: The contribution rate for persons insured through the statutory health insurance funds currently averages 1 3.39 percent.