Prof. Wuppermann is a member of the GKV Expert Commission

The Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken, has appointed the members of the ‘Health Finance Commission’. They are tasked with developing measures for the long-term stabilisation of contribution rates in statutory health insurance. The commission is composed of ten representatives from the fields of economics, medicine, social law, ethics, and prevention. Prof. Dr Amelie Wuppermann, Chair of Economics III – Public Finance at the University of Bayreuth, is one of these ten people. ‘I am very much looking forward to working in the commission and hope to be able to contribute to effective structural reforms in the healthcare system,’ she says. ‘A key challenge will be to develop reforms that not only contribute to the short-term stabilisation of statutory health insurance finances, but also fit coherently into a longer-term overall concept.’

The constituent meeting of the Health Finance Commission took place on Thursday.

The Commission's tasks could hardly be greater – the finances of the statutory health insurance system are in serious trouble. We need reforms that will offset a double-digit billion euro deficit by the end of next year and then put the entire system back on a solid footing in the long term. The commission will develop the basis for this – independently and with the necessary freedom to put the entire system to the test. The commission will not be explicitly restricted in its thinking by any preconceived ideas. The coming months are an opportunity to make the essential pillars of our social security system fit for the future," said Federal Health Minister Nina Warken in a press statement on the constituent meeting.

At the end of March 2026, one year earlier than envisaged in the coalition agreement at the request of the Federal Health Minister, the Health Finance Commission is to submit proposals to stabilise health insurance contributions from 2027 onwards – without any increase in contributions, according to the ministry's press release.

In addition, the plans outlined in the coalition agreement (including the primary care system and emergency and rescue service reforms) are to be examined for their financial impact and key cost drivers in the individual service areas identified. By the end of 2026, the commission is to present further measures for the long-term stabilisation of statutory health insurance finances.