Health and nursing care insurance
Members have a choice between two options when taking out health and nursing care insurance. About 40% of Members are insured with a statutory health insurance provider. The Bundestag pays half of their health and nursing care insurance contributions. In this respect, its obligations are the same as those any German employer has towards its employees. This group of Members is always directly affected when cuts are made to the benefits provided by statutory health and long-term care insurance.
The other Members have taken out private health and nursing care insurance, which is only open to individuals whose earnings lie above a certain threshold, the self-employed and tenured civil servants. They pay their insurance contributions themselves, but the policies they have taken out only meet a proportion of their medical expenses. The remainder is covered by allowances paid under civil service law. Reforms to Germany’s statutory social security systems are now always accompanied by changes that have the same effect on tenured civil servants. This means that Members with private health insurance are affected just like other people by such reforms through the amendments that are made to the provisions on the aid and allowances granted to civil servants.
