This paper presents the financial effects of a transition from the pay-as-you-go to a capital funded health insurance system in Germany. The focus of the following article will be on the financial need in different settings which are given by the difference of the spending for health care and...

Most systems of health care financing in EU member states currently include elements of income redistribution. The paper analyzes the effects of shifting this kind of redistribution to the tax system and argues that this reform could create two types of efficiency gains. On the expenditure side,...

Idee und Ziele des Risikostrukturausgleichs - Der Risikostrukturausgleich (im folgenden: RSA) in der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung wurde mit dem Gesundheits-Strukturgesetz von 1993 eingeführt und trat am 1.1.1994 in Kraft. Mit dem selben Gesetz wurden auch die Wahl- und Wechselmöglichkeiten...

In many countries, collectively financed health insurance systems or health services delivery systems (such as the NHS) exist. Typically, these institutions are financed via general taxes or specific contributions levied on earnings. As benefits are not dependent upon income, this implies a...

In letzter Zeit mehren sich die Stimmen, die das gegenwärtige System der Beitragserhebung in der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung, nämlich die Anknüpfung der Beiträge am Arbeitseinkommen, kritisieren und vorschlagen, zu einer einheitlichen Prämie je erwachsenem Versicherten nach dem Vorbild...

Starting from December 2012, insurers in the European Union were prohibited from charging gender-discriminatory prices. We examine the effect of this unisex mandate on risk segmentation in the German health insurance market. While gender used to be a pricing factor in Germany's private health...

Sick leave payments represent a significant portion of public health expenditures and labor costs. Reductions in replacement levels are a commonly used instrument to tackle moral hazard and to increase the efficiency of the health insurance market. In Germany's Statutory Health Insurance (SHI)...

We estimate the impact of a differential treatment of paid employees versus self-employed workers in a public health insurance system on the entry rate into entrepreneurship. In Germany, the public health insurance system is mandatory for most paid employees, but not for the self-employed, who...

In response to increasing health expenditures and a high number of physician visits, the German government introduced a copayment for ambulatory care in 2004 for individuals with statutory health insurance (SHI). Because persons with private insurance were exempt from the copayments, this health...