Not only workers must prepare for a higher burden in 2025, retirees are also affected by higher social security contributions. This can reduce monthly income, especially if retirees also receive additional widow’s pension funds. Because in this case those affected must pay double the contribution. Once for old age pension and then for widow’s pension.
The Federal Ministry of Finance initially wanted to use tax breaks to ensure that employees and pensioners would have more disposable income from 2025. But experts warn that this plan may not work.
The reason for the bitter pill? Experts warn that health insurance premiums will increase. “If the additional contribution to health insurance or the contribution to care insurance also increases by 2025, it is feared that little or even none of the planned tax relief will reach the population,” said financial scientist Frank Hechtner from the University of Nuremberg-Erlangen in an interview with “Handelsblatt”.
Pensioners and employees face increased contributions
The current health insurance contribution is 14.6 percent, plus additional contributions that can be set by the health insurance company itself. The average is 1.7 percent. The total is 16.3 percent. For 2025, the value is expected to increase to 16.9 percent. On behalf of DAK-Gesundheit, the IGES Institute Berlin calculated the development of contributions to pensions, health, long-term care and unemployment insurance, which is clear from the current perspective. Contributions to long-term care insurance are expected to increase by 0.2 percent from 2025.
This is a double blow for retirees who receive an old-age pension and a widow’s supplement. Because they have to pay for care and health insurance for both pension funds. “In order to be able to use all the benefits of regular health insurance even at retirement age, contributions generally have to be paid,” explains Gundula Sennewald of the German Pension Insurance Federation.
Although German pension insurance covers half of the health insurance for retirees, they have to pay the entire additional contribution amount themselves.
Here’s what retirees will have to pay for health care and insurance from 2025
With a gross pension of 1,000 euros, this results in a health insurance contribution of 73 euros. The additional contribution will cost 17 euros. This results in a social contribution of 90 euros. From 2025 the tax will increase to around 96.75 euros. The health insurance contribution should increase by an average of 14.45 percent and the additional contribution by 2.45 percent.
But there is also hope: from July 2025, further pension increases could reduce the deficit.
