Impending closure of the BKK for healthcare professions

BKK for health care professions shortly before bankruptcy

Financial difficulties of the BKK for health care professions have been reported again and again in the past. Due to the existing liquidity problems, the stricken health insurance company has been looking for a possible merger partner for months. However, any previous merger negotiations have been unsuccessful. Apparently the financial risk was always too great for the other health insurance companies. The "Financial Times Deutschland" had already predicted that the health insurance company would go bankrupt at the end of May if no merger partner was found.

A spokesman for the BKK for health care professions in Düsseldorf reported that the closing of the distressed health insurance company has come a lot closer since the merger partner in question, Bochum's BKK on site, has also ruled out a possible merger with the BKK for healthcare professions. After the City BKK, the second statutory health insurance would have to cease operations due to financial difficulties. Over a hundred thousand insured people would have to look for new health insurance, which, if the course was similar to that of the City BKK, would pose considerable difficulties.

120,000 insured would need a new health insurance company Today, the BKK federal association will be given a special session to discuss possible alternatives to saving the BKK for medical professions, but should no solution be found, closure at the turn of the year remains the last option, explained the spokesman for the stricken health insurance company. The bankruptcy of the BKK for health care professions had to be decided in the end by the Federal Insurance Office, but given the liquidity problems of the BKK for health care professions there was no other choice. According to the information provided by the cash register spokesman, the Federal Insurance Office will decide on the closure of the BKK for healthcare professions by November 2 this year at the latest. In the event of insolvency, the 120,000 people insured by the health insurance company would have to look for new insurance from next year and the remaining 150 employees would lose their jobs. In view of the emerging difficulties, the BKK had already given 90 employees layoffs for health care professionals in September.

All merger models failed due to money The company health insurance companies have been discussing various options for saving the ailing BKK for health care professions for months, but in the end all of the proposed merger models failed due to the money. The BKK on site had also expected financial support of 53 million euros from the other health insurance companies in association with the company health insurance funds for the merger with the BKK for health care professions. However, according to the "Handelsblatt", some of the other company health insurance companies were not prepared to provide unconditional merger support. Since the financial requirements were also significantly higher than originally assumed, the BKK decided on the spot to no longer adhere to the merger project, according to a statement in the “Handelsblatt” letter from the BKK Federal Association. For its part, the BKK for health professions had already indicated several times in vain that a takeover would still be significantly cheaper for the other company health insurance funds than the impending insolvency.

As with the City BKK, which was closed in June, the cause of the BKK's financial difficulties for health care professions is, in addition to structural problems, the introduction of additional contributions. After the health insurance company raised the first additional contributions in order to free itself from the financial constraint, more and more members left the insurance and a disproportionately large number of old and sick people remained, who usually incur more costs than the insurance contributions earn. The financial difficulties have increased further and after all the proposed mergers have burst, bankruptcy remains the last option. The placement of the insured in a new health insurance company at City BKK causes massive difficulties, not least because the other statutory health insurance companies rolled considerable stones in their way when changing insurance. Similar problems could now threaten the insured of the BKK for healthcare professions in the event of bankruptcy. (fp)

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