Verfassungsfragen der dualen Krankenversicherung

»Constitutional Issues of the Dual Health Insurance System«The German law's basic decision for a coexistence of Statutory Health Insurance (»Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung«/GKV) and Private Health Insurance (»Private Krankenversicherung«/PKV) is a major topic in sociopolitical and health policy-related discussions. With enacting the German Statutory Health Insurance Increased Competition Act (»GKV-Wettbewerbsstärkungsgesetz«) of 2007, German legislators found a modus vivendi between both forms of insurance whose constitutionality was confirmed by the German Federal Constitutional Court in 2009. The concept of replacing the dual system with a uniform insurance remains on the political agenda. The author assesses the conformity of such a measure with the German Constitution, but also examines options for a further development of the dual system.