72,000 people without health insurance in Germany

Berlin. In Germany, approximately 72,000 people were without health insurance in 2023 and had no other entitlement to healthcare. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office on Wednesday.

The number of uninsured individuals has thus increased by 11,000 since the last survey in 2019. This data is collected only every four years based on an additional module within the so-called microcensus. Put another way, 99.9 percent of the population had health insurance in 2023.

Sixty-one percent of those affected are men. Three-quarters of this group consist of pensioners or students aged 26 and over, it was stated. Since the beginning of 2009, German law has mandated universal health insurance coverage.

In addition, another 198,000 people had no health insurance in the survey year but were nevertheless entitled to care. This group includes, for example, asylum seekers, recipients of social assistance, or those performing voluntary military service.

Since the introduction of compulsory insurance, the number of uninsured people has steadily decreased, from 196,000 (2007) to 137,000 (2011) and then to 79,000 in 2015.

Baden-Württemberg's Health Minister Manfred Lucha (Greens) pointed to the very heterogeneous group of uninsured people in light of the new figures. This includes individuals with high outstanding health insurance contributions, as well as people working in prostitution or those without legal residency status.

The state has therefore been funding projects since 2023 to improve the situation of these people – through support services and with the goal of reintegrating them into health insurance. Lucha appealed to the federal government "not to lose sight of these people and to introduce corresponding projects at the federal level as well."

Speaking for the Left Party in the Bundestag, MP Ates Gürpinar called the figures a "scandal" and accused the federal government of inaction. He advocated for so-called clearinghouses throughout Germany. Their task, he argued, should be to provide coverage within the regular healthcare system for people without health insurance. "This way, we can close the gaps in coverage, relieve the burden on municipal social services, and avoid unnecessary costs for those affected," he said. (fst)