Overview
- A draft pension report indicates roughly a 3.7% gross increase from July 2026 for about 21 million people, but health and long‑term care deductions and housing-benefit recalculations mean many will see little or no net gain.
- Average statutory health fund surcharges rose from 1.7% in 2024 to 2.5% in 2025 and 2.9% in 2026, with some funds at 4.39%, and the care insurance rate was lifted to 3.6% with mid‑2025 back payments for retirees.
- An IGES projection for DAK-Gesundheit warns total social contributions have already topped 42% and could approach 50% by 2035, citing rising treatment costs and the expiry of federal loan support in 2027, with a worst‑case path above 53%.
- IGES and DAK propose to stabilize finances by tax-funding the hospital transformation fund, increasing federal transfers by about €10 billion and tying GKV spending to revenues, while DAK also urges a VAT cut on medicines; combined, these steps could hold GKV near 17.2–17.5% and total charges around 47% by 2035.
- Political pressure is building as CDU’s Jens Spahn calls for a higher retirement age and party leader Friedrich Merz pushes stronger capital-funded pillars, while the SPD seeks to reinforce the statutory system and a 48% level ahead of the commission’s mid‑year recommendations.