Germans Back Higher Sin Taxes to Ease Health Premium Pressure

A majority of people insured under Germany’s public health system support higher taxes on alcohol, tobacco and sugary drinks as a way to help stabilize rising health insurance contributions, according to a Deloitte survey released Thursday.

The poll found that two-thirds of respondents favored raising the tax on spirits. Support was also broad for extending alcohol taxes beyond liquor: 64% said beer and wine should also face higher taxes. A higher tobacco tax drew support from 59% of those surveyed, while 52% backed a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. Deloitte said 53% also supported applying a sugar tax to products such as candy.

The survey comes as Germany’s statutory health insurers face mounting financial pressure and policymakers debate ways to slow the rise in premiums. The findings suggest that many insured consumers are more willing to accept taxes aimed at changing behavior than direct increases in out-of-pocket costs.

By contrast, proposals that would shift more costs directly onto patients were viewed skeptically. Deloitte said 84% of respondents considered higher patient copayments little or not at all useful for keeping premiums stable, and 80% said the same about reducing subsidies for dental prosthetics.

The survey was conducted from April 13 to April 16 among more than 900 people insured under the public system, within a representative sample of 1,000 consumers. Deloitte said the results indicate that health policy is one of the most important issues for insured Germans, with 41% naming it among their top three policy concerns.

Still, confidence that the proposed measures will actually hold down costs was limited. Only 17% of respondents expected the commission’s proposals and parts of the government’s response to stabilize contributions in the short term. By contrast, 77% said they expected to pay more soon, and 84% anticipated further increases over the medium term. Nearly half, 45%, said they expected health care services to worsen over the next one to two years.

Gregor-Konstantin Elbel, a Deloitte partner focused on statutory health insurance, said prevention-oriented measures were welcome but would not close financing gaps quickly enough on their own. He said structural reforms, digitalization and less bureaucracy were also needed to keep trust in the system from eroding further.