Germany

Healthcare System

The Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) is a compulsory health insurance system that covers 90% of the population, consisting of 110 privately-run and not-for-profit sickness funds that act as third-party payers. The services provided by these sickness funds are decided by the Federal Joint Committee, which in turn is supervised by the Ministry of Health, and all sickness funds are represented by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds. Payment for the insurance is either discounted from the salary, or from the governmental benefits or allowances a person may receive. Their children and non-working spouses are also covered at no additional cost. You can opt for a Private Health Insurance (PHI) instead if your income is superior to 66,600 Euros (as of 2023), you’re self-employed or a civil servant. That does not include supplementary PHIs.

The main body responsible for health monitoring in Germany is the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), whereas the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) is the data holder for many health-related statistics, including hospital statistics and cause of death statistics.

Latest Policymaking Initiatives

Report: National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Annual Reports

Sponsor, manager or home institution: The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds

Primary purpose:' Provide an overview of plans created and actions taken during a year by the association.

Type of information: Discussions on policies, guidelines and plans relevant to the report's year. For the latest publication (2021), there are discussions on the participation of the association on the "Europe's Beating Cancer Plan", as well as an update on the results of the Cancer Registry Data Act.

'Level: National level.

Access to information: Information can be found here.