Germans reject health reform hike

A majority of Germans - 55% of those polled in a survey for the daily newspaper Die Welt - have rejected the plan to raise the health fund contribution rates 0.5% (Marketletter July 10). The 55% said this was the wrong way to counter the cost explosion in the health service. However, 39% said that they welcomed the coalition government's compromise agreement, although 90% did not believe that fund contribution rates would remain stable until 2013, as is hoped.

A significant majority (79%) said that patients also had responsibility for costs and had to be more aware of them and 73% valued their personal health so highly that they said they were prepared to spend more on preserving it. The survey highlighted a difference of view between the generations; while the over 60s assessed the health service as positive (69% against 27% negative), the 18-24-year-olds returned a generally negative assessment (59% against 37%). The survey also appears to show that the entire health debate over recent months has actually damaged the government, although 25% of those questioned said they remained satisfied.